


the best worst decision

by greeny1710



Series: Alternate Works of Chaotic Trio [4]
Category: Formula 1 RPF
Genre: Alpha!Daniel, Alpha/Beta/Omega Dynamics, Alternate Universe - High School, Alternate Universe - Non-Famous, Angst, Fluff, Honestly I don't even know what to tag here lmao, Implied Sexual Content, Light Angst, M/M, Max is essentially a horny little shit, Mild Sexual Content, Omega Verse, Omega!Max, Protective Family, Suggestive Themes, Swearing, will there be a happy ending? who knows
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-18
Updated: 2020-06-23
Packaged: 2021-03-03 20:48:35
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 31,578
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24791860
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/greeny1710/pseuds/greeny1710
Summary: Max had found his Alpha.His family didn’t know.And he didn’t exactly plan on telling them either
Relationships: Daniel Ricciardo/Max Verstappen, Kimi Räikkönen/Sebastian Vettel
Series: Alternate Works of Chaotic Trio [4]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1772158
Comments: 152
Kudos: 204





	1. Chapter 1

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> based on an ask from **Tumblr anon** who said: _Imagine the chaotic trio in the a/b/o verse tho. Kimi and Valtteri as the Alphas of the Family being super protective of Seb, Charles and Max, especially Max when he starts dating Dan who’s an Alpha and they make sure he’s a good guy first because Max is their baby and Dan being even more protective of Max. Sorry for dropping this on you just read an a/b/o fic and had to think of this._ and honestly this isn't entirely that, but I plan to maybe expand on this verse if it's enjoyed???? I have no idea lmao
> 
> hope you enjoy this :)

It wasn’t that Max was hiding this from his family, but the boy in his arms wasn’t exactly the kind of Alpha they’d imagined for him. However, every time Max looked into the Alpha’s eyes, he wanted the elder boy to take him then and there. And his family wouldn’t exactly approve of that. Nor would they approve of the boy he wanted to do that with. 

They were hiding in the locker room at school, Max on his lap now that everyone else had left and Max could sneak in and spend some time alone with him after Dan had finished his football training for the day. 

“You’re all sweaty,” Max mumbled as he ran his fingers through the Alpha’s curls, smiling at him as his nose was filled with the scent of having pleased an Alpha. 

“Didn’t see you complaining about this when you was the one who climbed into my lap,” he grumbled back, causing Max to laugh at the older boy. 

Max was curled sideways on his lap, the Alpha’s arms around his waist and Max’s own wrapped over the Alpha’s shoulders, exchanging gentle kisses with him as he stroked his hand through his curls and across his skin. Anything that would be deemed as taking care of the Alpha, Max had to do it. He had to please the Alpha. 

“Dan,” Max giggled after a while, his hands shifting down to hold onto Dan’s biceps as he nosed at Max’s neck, “Dan stop, we’re at school.”

“You’re so pretty,” Dan whispered, “Such a pretty Omega.”

“Dan seriously, stop,” Max laughed but Dan could hear the slight edge in his voice. 

And when his boy said stop, Dan stopped. 

“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to push you,” Dan said, pulling back for a moment.

“I needed you to stop because otherwise I’m going to make a mess in my boxers,” Max admitted quietly, which made Dan smirk and Max shift slightly on Dan’s lap, feeling the thick length of the Alpha beneath his butt. 

“You getting all worked up for me, baby?”

“Only ever for you, Alpha,” Max laughed, bringing his arms up around Daniel’s neck and kissing him harder. 

“Let me take you out, hm? I want to take you on a proper date, Max, please may I?”

Max smiled up at the boy that he knew was his Alpha. Daniel hadn’t courted him properly yet, hadn’t talked to Max’s parents or anything as such, but the way Max felt around the Alpha was the same way that Dad had always said he felt around Isä. 

A rush of warmth. A desire to be held. A need to be marked. 

“Okay,” Max whispered, “I’d really like that.”

“Cool,” Dan replied, biting his lip and blushing, “I’m really happy you said yes, I don’t deserve such a good boy like you.”

“I’m yours, Alpha, you can take me where you want.”

“You don’t have to call me Alpha all the time,” Daniel murmured, tracing his hand down Max’s face and catching his jaw in his fingers to press a kiss to his lips, “I’m just Dan. I’m your Daniel.”

“And I’m your Max, that’s what we have,” Max promised, and Daniel nuzzled Max’s throat, nosing over the junction between the base of his neck and his shoulder where one day a mark would lay claiming Max as an Alpha’s. 

As Daniel’s. 

Daniel smiled up at him and kissed Max again, their lips lazily moving against each other’s as they made out, Dan rumbling deep in his throat and sending warmth pouring through Max. His Alpha was content. His Alpha was happy. Max had made him happy.

“Fuck I can’t wait to take you out,” Dan said, pulling away when they were both short of breath and their lips were red and swollen and spit was pooling on Max’s lips. 

“I can’t wait to go out with you,” Max agreed, nuzzling the Alpha’s neck and kissing his shoulder, “And as much as I want to stay here forever and ever, I really should get home before my dads freak out that I’m late.”

“Want me to drive you home?”

“Nah it’s alright, you know they’d see the car and freak out. I’ll just get the bus.”

“Max, I’m not letting you get the bus,” Dan said, his eyes darkening protectively. 

“I’ll be fine, we do it all the time,” Max shrugged, trying to appease him but ultimately making Dan’s protective instincts go wild. 

“I’ll drop you at the end of the street far away from your house, just don’t get the bus home.”

“Dan, I’ll be fine,” Max promised, placing his hand gently against his jaw and running his thumb across the bone. 

Dan stood up suddenly and Max moaned at the strength of the Alpha holding him up. Max kept his arms and legs wrapped around Dan, pressing his face into his neck and feeling warmth flush through him. 

“I’ll be taking you home, baby boy, don’t think you’re getting the bus now.”

“Yes, Alpha,” Max mumbled, dropping his head in apology to the Alpha. 

“I’m not mad, baby, I just worry about you.”

Max nodded but still felt bad. They’d been sneaking around with each other for a little while, exchanging kisses and hiding under the stairs at school so they could hold hands and talk with no one disturbing them. And during the few weeks that Daniel had made Max feel special, Max had yet to upset the Alpha, and he didn’t want to start now. 

They’d started sneaking around after Max had caught Daniel looking at him more than once when he’d been talking to his brothers. Valtteri had followed Max’s gaze once and growled when he saw the other Alpha looking at his brothers, dragging his omega twin brothers away before Daniel could harm either of them.

It had been Max that sought the elder boy out. He didn’t make the first move, he was still too anxious to do that, but he’d been the one to find Dan out. He’d seen the Alpha leaving biology class once, Max waiting outside for his lesson the next period with his own textbook held against his front as the Alpha waltzed passed him. Daniel’s scent overwhelmed his senses and he’d had to run into the bathrooms, collapsing against the stall door once he’d gotten in, thinking about his brothers, his parents, anything he could to stop him from focusing on the Alpha and wanting to find him out. 

And when Max had gone into his class, he’d sat at his desk and saw that the textbook left on his table from the previous lesson was currently signed out to the one and only _Daniel Ricciardo_. Surely it had to be a sign? 

He’d made the decision to search the Alpha out, finding him in the library the following day at second period, holding Dan’s textbook nervously as he approached him. Thankfully, Dan had been alone, and when Max tentatively stepped up beside him and whispered an ‘excuse me’, Dan’s dark eyes fixed on him and Max had wanted to bare his neck for the boy there and then. At the time, it had been more out of fear than arousal. 

“I’m sorry to disturb you, but you left your textbook in erm, in Susie’s biology class and she said you’d need it for your homework, so I thought I’d hand it over.”

“You can disturb me all you like, little Maxy-Moo,” Dan grinned, kicking the chair out opposite him and nodding at it, “Take a seat, don’t worry, I don’t bite. Not unless you ask, anyway.”

Max flushed but sat down, smiling nervously as he slid the textbook across to him.

“You’re year 12, aren’t you?” Dan asked, and when Max nodded, he sighed, “Fuck I was hoping you were a year 13 and could figure this shit out. I’m so lost.”

Max reached out and gently took the worksheet off Dan, skimming through the question and trying to ignore his heart pounding at the fact that he’d just kind of disrespected the most popular Alpha at their school by not asking permission before taking something that belonged to him.

“Do you understand prokaryotic DNA?” Max asked and Dan simply shook his head, leaning on his palm as he stared at Max.

“I don’t understand a single fucking thing,” he muttered, kicking his leg out and sighing in pure frustrated anger.

The Omega side of Max was screaming at him to go and climb into the Alpha’s lap, to comfort him and distract him and calm him down. But Max couldn’t do that. He wasn’t the Alpha’s mate and this was the first time he’d said more than a handful of words to him.

Instead, Max swapped seats, coming to sit beside Daniel rather than opposite him. 

“Okay so prokaryotic DNA is in the central area of a nucleus, yeah?” Max explained, trying to keep as calm as he possibly could as he drew a diagram on a piece of paper and labelling it as he spoke. He started to explain how it differed from ‘normal’ DNA, and answered Dan’s questions when he brought up something about cell membrane. 

“But the question is asking what the difference between prokaryotic DNA and human DNA using this figure is, right?” Max asked, pointing at a diagram from a previous question. 

Dan nodded, his arm out stretched behind Max.

“So what are you noticing that’s different between the diagram and this figure?” Max asked.

Daniel leant forward, his arm brushing against Max’s back and his fingers catching his bare skin.

Max barely held in a whimper.

“Yours is circular, but Human DNA is in an X-Shape?” Dan asked, looking nervously at Max and tugging his bottom lip between his teeth.

“That’s perfect!” Max praised, “Except you’ll want to say linear instead of X-Shaped okay?”

Dan nodded and scribbled down what Max had helped him to work out. 

Max had sat with Dan for the remainder of their free period together, quietly helping him work through the problems for his homework. 

“You’re so smart, Max,” Daniel had whispered just before the bell went, and Max preened under the praise from the Alpha as Daniel lazily trailed his eyes over Max’s body. 

It took a few more study sessions together before Dan had gently took Max’s right hand in his left, running his thumb over Max’s knuckles as he listened to him explain a concept regarding enzyme activity activation. Max had faltered, looking down at their hands that laid jointly tied against his thigh, before looking up at Dan. He saw the nerves, saw the anxiety, saw the fact that this was an Alpha offering himself to an Omega and wasn’t going to simply take him because he wanted to. And so Max smiled. 

He hadn’t dropped Dan’s hand the entire time, not needing to draw out any diagrams this time. 

And Max had never felt better. 

He’d felt complete. Whole, even. 

Which is why when Dan had tugged him aside one day during their normal free period together, hiding under the stairs in the block of their sixth form that no one ever really bothered to visit, Max let him. They’d sat on the floor together, their knees together and Max pressed against Dan’s side, resting his head on the Alpha’s shoulder. He turned his head at one point, nuzzling into Dan’s shoulder without even realising. Dan had turned and pressed a kiss to Max’s hair. Max looked up at him, his eyes flicking down to the Alpha’s lips.

“Please may I kiss you?” Dan asked, “It’s okay if you say no, I won’t mind.”

And Dan being so polite was what drove him to nod. He knew he’d be safe with this Alpha. 

Their first kiss had been gentle, a brushing of mouths before Max sat up straighter and wrapped his hands around the broadness of Dan’s neck. The Alpha’s strong hands settled against Max’s hips, tugging him in until Max was sprawled between his legs, careful to keep the distance between Max’s bum and Daniel’s dick. 

He didn’t want to scare Max away already. 

And their relationship had only grew from there. They still snuck around and still hid under the stairwell as often as they could, normally making out lazily or chatting about anything that came to mind. During one of their free periods, they pressed close together and watched a couple of episodes of a show together on Dan’s phone, sharing earphones. 

It had felt oddly intimate. 

And Max liked it. 

He liked that Dan never pushed him, that Dan didn’t expect him to do certain things simply because he was an Omega and Dan was an Alpha. He never pushed Max to call him Alpha and he never scented him beyond anything that Max couldn’t easily scrub away (even though doing so made him want to cry more than once).

(Okay he had cried quite a few times. He missed having Dan’s scent on him)

And it was Dan’s gentle nature that made Max accept the date without hesitation. 

He was tired of sneaking around, tired of being made to feel bad simply because he was dating the school bad boy. 

Sure Dan had a reputation for fighting and arguing, and he was the captain of the football team, and he’d broken a few (read: a lot) hearts along the way. But he was _different_ with Max. He was gentle, loving, funny, kind. 

He’d even brought Max a coffee from the coffee shop near reception simply because Max had stayed up too late texting Daniel the night before and was now exhausted. 

He was _nice_ and Max didn’t think he should have to keep hiding that. 

And sure they had to keep sneaking around at school, pretending they didn’t know each other if Valtteri or Charles were around, and Max had become a pro at lying about staying late at school to his family, but it didn’t mean he _liked doing that_. 

Max wanted to scream from the rooftops how much he adored Daniel Joseph Ricciardo, the soft Australian boy who called his Mum ‘Mama’ when he was rambling and had an affinity for playing with Max’s fingers when he was stressed. He wanted to bring Dan home to his family, hold the Alpha’s hand proudly and introduce him to his Dads properly. He wanted Valtteri to understand that there was nothing challenging about the other young Alpha. He wanted his Isä to see that Dan wasn’t like the other Alpha’s, that he was soft and gentle and fucking kind for God’s sake. He wanted his Dad to see that Daniel wasn’t a threat, that he wasn’t going to whisk Max away and they would never see him again. 

He was just a nice, normal boy. 

A nice boy who Max was infatuated with. 

And now, as Dan walked Max to his car, Max still curled around him, he knew he was making the right decision. 

His parents wouldn’t understand.

His brothers wouldn’t understand.

Charles probably already knew.

Twins had a deeper connection anyway, but to have _twin Omegas_ was almost unheard of and when it did happen, they knew everything about each other. 

Max simply prayed that Charles wasn’t stupid enough to rat him out. 

Dan opened the car door for Max, putting him down on his feet so that he could climb in. He accepted his backpack off Dan and placed it at his feet whilst Dan buckled his seat belt around him.

“All safe,” Dan whispered, turning to catch Max’s lips in his. 

“Thank you, Alpha,” Max murmured, stroking his hand across Dan’s side.

Dan’s hand wandered up from his waist to run across the flank of Max’s torso, his fingers tracing across his tummy and up to his shoulder. Dan rested his fingers in the junction where the mark would lay, broke the kiss long enough to rub his nose over it and scrape his teeth across the mark. 

Max sighed and pushed his shoulders back, extending his neck sideways and giving his Alpha room to bite down. 

“Please, please claim me, Alpha,” Max whispered.

“Not yet,” Dan promised, “Not before you turn 18, I want you to be sure.”

Dan pressed a lingering kiss to the mark location and pulled away. Whilst Max’s instincts were screaming at him for being a bad Omega and not even able to convince his Alpha to mate him, he knew it was the right decision. 

The bond was best made at the peak of love, when their bodies entwined and they become one. And Max wasn’t sure if he was ready for that. He’d only been sneaking around with Dan for a month or so. It was too soon. No matter how much Max wanted to believe it wasn’t, that he knew this boy was his Mate, he knew it was too soon. Deep in his heart he did. 

Even if his crotch was screaming at him for attention, he knew he couldn’t. Instead he closed his eyes, tried to ignore the overwhelming scent of the Alpha’s car and thought about his family. 

It was bad enough that Max would have to run upstairs the second he got home, hoping that his Alpha’s scent wasn’t lingering too heavily on his body and scrub and scrub and scrub in the shower until he smelt like another generic Omega. 

“I wish my family could know about us,” Max whispered once Dan was driving them home. Their hands were joint across the centre console, Dan comforting his Omega as they drove. 

“They can if you want,” Dan shrugged, “I don’t mind. I just want you to be safe and happy.”

“They’d never approve of you,” Max sighed, “That’s what hurts the most. You’re not like a normal Alpha, you remind me of my Isä, but I know that wouldn’t be enough for them. They want me to settle down with a ‘good’ Alpha, but what I know they mean is they want me to settle down with an Alpha they either set me up with or approve of before I’ve even said fucking hello to him. It’s bullshit. I want you. You make me happy.”

“I know, Maxy, I know. You make me so happy too, baby boy, I want everyone to know that. But we can take it slow, and when we are ready, we can talk to your parents about this. I want to be with you, Max.”

“I want you, Alpha,” Max replied, and the double entendre wasn’t lost on Daniel.

“My Prince, I promise you, one day you can have me fully. But we need to give it time, okay? Give our bodies chance to understand each other before we jump straight into an intimate relationship. I want it more than you can imagine, but you and your happiness are the most important thing to me, and I don’t want to rush things and have you regret them, okay?”

“I won’t regret it! I already know I won’t! I just want you,” Max protested, his voice trailing off at the end when Daniel’s hand tightened around his. 

“Max, you are barely seventeen. You will wait, okay?”

Max didn’t challenge the Alpha, hearing the sharp edge to Daniel’s tone and squeezed his eyes shut, bearing his neck in submission. 

“I’m not angry at you sweetheart,” Dan cooed and Max whimpered.

He’d upset the Alpha.

He was a bad Omega.

“You’re a good boy, very strong, very smart. And you know what you want, and fuck, Maxy, I want to give it all to you now. But not yet, sweetheart, you need to wait and be sure you’re making the right decision. I know you think you are and believe me I want to agree with you and tell you to get on your knees and let me claim you, but I’m not going to do that. Not yet. You’re not old enough yet.”

“The legal age of consent to sexual practices and mating in the United Kingdom is sixteen years of age and we are both seventeen,” Max whispered.

“Don’t, Max. Don’t find loopholes,” Dan warned and Max whimpered. 

He felt the tears prick at his eyes and he wanted nothing more than to get out of the car, to curl into his twin’s arms and cry about how shit everything was. 

“Max,” Dan grumbled, trying to offer comfort to the Omega. 

Max pulled his hand out of Dan’s hold and wiped his eyes. He grabbed his backpack off the footwell and cradled it to his chest, smelling the comfort of his family against it. 

“Please just take me home,” Max whispered. 

Dan sighed but nodded. Max saw his hand twitch, saw the way he wanted to grab Max’s hand and nuzzle it. He saw Dan’s hand want to grab at his thigh and run his thumb over the seam of his jeans to comfort him. 

Max huddled tighter into himself instead. 

“Go left here,” Max told him quietly, and Dan sighed as he took the directions to drive Max home. 

When Daniel pulled up at the end of his street, far enough away that Max parents and any nosy neighbours wouldn’t see, Max was quick to climb out the car. Except Dan was quick too, around the car and bracketing Max in before he even realised it. 

“I’m not mad at you, Max,” Dan told him, “I promise. And I don’t want you to be sad either baby, I just don’t want us to rush things okay? We have all the time in the world.”

“But if we stop hiding and you claim me, my parents can’t stop us,” Max protested, resting his hands on Dan’s hips and dropping his bag to their feet. 

Dan shook his head.

“You know that’s not how it works, Max. Your parents are still going to be your Alphas until we mate fully, and I won’t do that until you are eighteen. I can claim you all you want and your parents can still stop us. I’m sorry, Max, but I’m not going to take advantage of you.”

Max felt the tears fall again, screwed his eyes shut and pulled his lips between his teeth as he tried to keep the sobs in. He dropped his head to rest against Dan’s shoulder and nodded.

“I know, I just wish you would. I want you, and I want to be happy. You make me happy, Alpha.”

“You make me happy too, Maxy, so much. And one day I will claim you and make you mine, but until then,” Dan stopped to hook his fingers under Max’s chin, the skin there on fire with the touch of an Alpha, as he tilted Max’s head up, “This will have to do.”

Dan pressed his lips against Max’s, feeling the Omega become boneless underneath him as he let Daniel lead the kiss. Max still put up a bit of resistance, not opening his mouth when Daniel’s lips teased at the seam, until a sharp nip at his lip had him gasp. Daniel’s tongue pushed into Max’s mouth, teasing against his own as they made out. 

“I can’t wait to take you on a date,” Dan rumbled when they pulled away for air. 

Max preened under Alpha’s pleased pheromones hitting the air and encircling around him. 

“I’m going to spoil you rotten, my Prince, such a good boy, my angel,” Dan continued rumbling, running his nose over Max’s neck and having him gasp. 

“I need to go,” Max mumbled, nuzzling Dan behind the ear.

Dan pressed a lingering kiss to Max’s neck, and then let his Omega pull away. 

“I’ll text you, yeah? We’ll figure something out.”

Max nodded, his previous sad mood still evident in the quietness of his behaviour, but he was clearly feeling a bit better. 

“I’ll see you tomorrow?” Max tentatively asked, only softening when Dan nodded lovingly.

“Can’t wait to get you back in my arms,” he promised and Max looked around quickly, saw no one around and pressed another kiss to his Alpha’s lips.

“I’ll count down the hours,” Max mumbled against his lips. 

Dan had a wide grin on his face when they pulled away. He leant down to grab Max’s bag, handing it over to the Omega, even though Max could see him fighting his instincts to keep hold of it and not let the Omega carry his belongings, wanting to do things for him and keep him safe. 

“I’ll see you tomorrow, Dan,” Max said. 

Dan pressed a kiss to his cheek and dropped his arms from around Max. 

“Bye, Maxy,” Dan said, and as Max slipped past him, Dan swatted his hand and caught Max on the butt. 

Max yelped and turned to glare at Dan. 

“You’re such an ass,” Max grinned whilst Dan simply smirked. 

“And I’m yours,” he reminded him. 

Max simply shook his head. 

He really was.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I like when things have an optimistic ending :)
> 
> kudos, comments, and feedback always greatly appreciated💙
> 
> Tumblr is at 3303andmore if you wanna come yell about protective!Alpha Dan


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ❤️

Their date rolled around quicker than Max expected. 

They both only had 1st and 4th period on Tuesdays, meaning that from the second they finished first period at 10:20 until the second that last (fourth) period started at 2:40, they were both completely free. 

Daniel had PE first lesson, whilst Max was in his psychology class, and as soon as the breaktime bell went, Max shoved his belongings into his bag and sprinted out of the building. 

His school was lax on sixth form students, allowing them to come and go as they please so long as they attended their lessons properly, and so Max wandered out of school and headed towards where Dan’s car was parked. He kept his head low to avoid either of his brothers, any of their friends or one of Charles’ many conquests noticing him and reporting it back to his brothers. He waited for the older student by his car, sitting on a low wall and staring at the sports hall, waiting to see Daniel walking out. 

Eventually he did exit the building, shaking his hand through his hair and loosening his curls. 

God he was beautiful. 

When he spotted Max sitting and staring at him, he broke out into a grin and picked up the pace. 

“Hey, beautiful,” Dan whispered, tilting Max’s chin up and kissing him as deeply as he dared. 

“We’re still at school,” Max reminded him, pulling away before they got to kiss properly, “People will see.”

“Let them, let everyone know that you’re mine.”

Max shook his head and shimmied out of Dan’s grip. 

“My brothers,” he said as form of explanation and Dan sighed. 

“Sorry, forgot about them. Come on, you. Get in the car and we’ll go somewhere where no one knows us and then I can kiss you properly,” Dan replied, pressing a quick and soft kiss to Max’s cheek before opening the passenger door and letting Max slip in. 

He buckled Max up again, much like he had the previous evening before taking his backpack and dropping it into the backseat alongside his own, and when Dan slumped into the driver’s seat, Max took his hand in his. 

“I’m really happy we’re doing this,” Max told him, brushing a kiss over his knuckles. 

“Me too, Angel, I can’t wait to just be able to hold your hand without anyone questioning it.”

“And buy me a coffee,” Max cheeked and Dan simply shook his head. 

“My little menace, only thinking about one thing.”

“Well, I’m thinking about you marking me, but I guess that’s still a no,” Max said and Dan rolled his head to look at him, sighing slightly. 

“Max, we talked about this, baby. I promise, when you’re eighteen, and if you still want this, I will claim you. But not before then, and that’s final.”

Max nodded, slumping in his seat but not releasing Dan’s hand. 

“Just because you won’t do it doesn’t mean I can’t think about it,” Max pointed out, knowing that if left Daniel no option but to to admit that he was right. That’s what he got for dating a lawyer’s son. 

Max knew that he was the king of finding loopholes. He had to be if he was going to be any good at convincing people to let his brother off from getting in trouble. If only they knew that it was more than likely that Daniel being incredibly turned on by Max’s subtle demonstration of power was what was probably going to turn around and bite them in the ass one day soon. 

“I know, baby, but the more you think about it, the more it’s going to hurt that we can’t do it yet, okay?”

Max nodded and sighed, turning in his seat slightly so he could watch Dan as he drove. 

“Right anyway, enough with the Sad Boy Energy, we’re going on a date, and we only have happiness and smiles, okay?” Dan joked, tugging on Max’s hand. 

Max laughed softly and nodded, drawing patterns over Dan’s hand with his fingers. 

“Where are you taking me?”

“You’ll see,” he smiled. 

Max didn’t think he’d ever grow tired of Dan’s smile. It lit up the room, like a beacon of safety and happiness. And maybe his Dads would never approve of Dan, maybe all they’d ever see was the danger of Daniel, the fact that he spent half of his time in detention for fighting people. 

But Max knew the truth. 

When Daniel fought somebody, it was for a reason. He had a propensity to want to fight the world if it means that others were safe, and that’s all his parents would ever want for Max. Someone that would keep him safe and protect him, whilst not repressing him or expecting him to behave in a certain way. 

When they were alone, Daniel would tug Max into his lap and kiss him lightly, and Max loved when Daniel sneaked his hand under Max’s top and pressed his warm hands against Max’s torso. He knew that it seemed like Daniel was in charge, and maybe when they finally were being intimate it would be different, but in these instances, Max was in charge. Daniel only ever wanted Max to be happy and when Max told him to stop or slow down, Daniel always did. He wasn’t like a ‘typical Alpha’, and Max appreciated it. 

He just wished everyone else would appreciate it too. 

They ended up in a coffee shop that was around 20 minutes from their school, closer to central London than Barnet, where they actually lived and were educated. Daniel held Max’s hand as they walked in, holding the door open for him to walk through like the spiffing young gentleman he was. He slung his arm around Max’s waist as they walked up to the counter, Max leaning slightly back into Dan’s front as he looked up at the board to decide what he wanted to order. 

Daniel looked up briefly, saw that there was standard americano coffee to order, and went back to staring at Max. Max hadn’t reacted to Dan any more than he normally would. As far as Dan could tell, Max hadn’t noticed his scent being stronger than normal after spending 90 minutes in a PE lessons in which he’d spent the majority of it running around a field and getting incredibly sweaty, only amplifying the strong musk of an Alpha’s scent. And with the way that Max had reacted to Dan continuing to tell him he wasn’t going to claim him yet, he knew what it meant.

Max was his mate. 

And Max’s parents were going to kill Dan for it. 

He didn’t blame them. He wasn’t exactly the kind of boy you’d want your child to date, but the second he’d clapped eyes on Max, he knew that he was the one he wanted. Charles was a good kid, he was funny and popular, but protective of his brother and he never let his status stop him from being that kid that everyone adored. 

But Max was different. 

He still wasn’t a ‘typical’ Omega, just like his twin brother wasn’t. He had a bit of fight in him, and, yes, he was quiet and reserved, but he still had initiative, still fought back against people and he defended Charles just as much as Charles defended him. The twins had each other’s backs and Dan loved seeing them together. 

But he loved it even more when Max opened up to him about being Charles’ twin brother. He’d always wondered what it was like to have a twin, to have another person so uniquely connected to you. The more he heard Max’s stories about them and how they’d learned to defend themselves and each other, understanding that no matter what other people said, they always had each other, it warmed his heart to know that his boy had someone that protected him so fiercely. The Twins were one entity, and Dan was honestly surprised that Charles hadn’t already found out. 

“Dan, Dan? What do you want?” Max nudged, waving his hand in front of Dan’s eyes to get his attention. 

“Sorry, Maxy, was lost in my own little world then, just an americano please,” he smiled at the barista, tightening his grip on Max’s hip and pressing his lips to Max’s neck when he saw the barista flicking his eyes temptingly over Max. 

The barista must’ve seen Dan’s arm flexing around Max for he quickly looked away and got on with making their drinks. 

“Go find us a comfy seat, my angel, I’ll bring the drinks over,” Dan whispered, nosing over Max’s neck and pressing a kiss just under his ear. 

“Yes, Alpha,” Max murmured, turning long enough to capture Dan in a quick kiss before wandering away. 

Dan kept a close eye on his Omega, watching him as he found a comfy two-seater sofa that was a little bit tucked away but still enough in the open that they didn’t feel completely alone. 

Max looked across at where Dan was leaning against the counter, smiling when he saw the older student watching him. 

“Hi,” Dan mouthed at him. 

Max flushed the most delicious red. 

“Hi,” he mouthed back, pulling his bottom lip between his teeth as he grinned. 

“If you so much as look at my boy again,” Dan murmured to the barista without taking his eyes off Max, “I’ll personally burn you under the coffee machine.”

The barista looked across at Dan, saw the challenging look in the Alpha’s eye and knew not to fight. 

He wouldn’t win this one. 

“Your drinks, _Sir_.”

“Thank you,” Daniel said, smiling in a way that suggested danger and took the drinks in either hand. 

“Here you go, my prince,” Dan murmured, placing the drinks on the small table in front of them and flopping down beside Max. 

Max was quick to curl into Dan’s side, throwing his arm around Dan’s waist and toying with his hoodie pouch as he rested his head on Dan’s shoulder. Dan wrapped his arm around Max’s shoulders and pressed a kiss to Max’s head. 

“I’m really glad we did this,” Max murmured, bringing his hand up to tie with Dan’s that was hanging down around his shoulder. 

“Me too, it’s nice to just get away from everyone for a while, spend some time with you when no one is going to catch us,” Dan agreed, “Although, I know this is our first _proper_ date, I don’t feel like it is. All those times we sat in the stairwell, that felt like a date. Anytime that I got to spend alone with you, it’s a date. I’m sorry it took over a month into our relationship for us to actually _go somewhere_. For me to take you somewhere. I know I should’ve done it before now but I just didn’t know how to ask you, or whether you’d even want to go on a date with me.”

“Hey, it’s okay,” Max reassured, twisting up and running his free hand over Dan’s cheek, “I don’t mind. Like you said, it’s not going places that makes it a date, it’s getting to spend time together alone and smiling and having fun. Of course I love that we’re here, but I love any time I get to spend with you, it doesn’t matter if it’s in the stairwell at school or whether we’re sat in a coffee shop and watching the world go by beside us out of the windows. Being with you is being home, and that’s all I need. I just need someone to ground me and continue to make me smile, and that’s you. You’re the best thing in the world, Daniel.”

Daniel closed his eyes and pressed his face into Max’s hair. Max’s hair was soft and warm, his undeniably sweet smell uniquely pressing through and enveloping Dan’s mind in a fog. 

“I’m really not that good, Max, you can have someone better than me.”

“Do you think I would’ve kept fighting you to claim me if I didn’t already think you were perfect for me? I want _you_ , Alpha, no one else,” Max reassured, kissing Dan fast and briefly.

“If you’re going to kiss me, at least do it properly,” Dan joked and Max rolled his eyes.

Max pushed up to be able to kiss Dan properly, not taking any mind of the fact that they were in public nor that people could be watching. Let them watch. Let people see that Max Räikkönen-Vettel had a mate. Dan teased his other hand down Max’s side, pressing against his hip as his pinkie finger jutted to tease at the skin under the waistband of Max’s jeans. 

“My Alpha,” Max mumbled against Dan’s throat when he pulled away, lightly pressing his teeth there enough to make Dan jump in surprise but no were near the spot where he’d one day lay his own mark. 

“My Omega,” Dan rumbled back, tugging Max so that he was now sprawled across Dan’s lap. 

Normally Max would jump at a display such as that. To be so physically affectionate in public wasn’t Max’s style and he was nervous about people seeing and reporting it to one of his fathers, but Max was past the point of caring. People weren’t going to say shit. No one would say shit to Daniel Ricciardo. He was the perfect Alpha and Max knew he could happily be held by his boyfr-

Wait

“Dan,” Max whispered, suddenly going quiet and insecure.

“What’s wrong?” Dan asked, immediately on edge and ready to push Max off him if he needed to. 

“Are you my boyfriend?” He asked in a gentle voice, burying his face in the Alpha’s shoulder after asking the question. He didn’t know what he was going to do if Dan said no. 

Probably cry to be honest.

Maybe even phone his Dad.

He knew his Dad was meant to be in court today but he’d answer the phone if Max rang him, wouldn’t he? 

God Max hoped so. 

He really didn’t want to find out, he wanted Dan to be his boyfriend but he wasn’t the Omega that Dan deserved. He deserved someone so much better than anything Max could possibly offer him and if Dan said no…

Honestly? Max didn’t know what he’d do…

“Of course I’m your boyfriend, my angel, just like you are mine, I am yours, if you’ll have me of course,” Dan reassured, and when Max peaked a glance up almost in disbelief, he saw that Daniel didn’t look angry. Instead he looked insecure himself, like he was worried Max was going to reject him. 

“I want to be your boyfriend more than anything,” Max whispered, and Dan breathed a sigh of relief. 

Max curled around Daniel again, snaking his arm around Dan’s waist whilst Dan grabbed Max’s drink for him, passing it across to him and supporting the bottom of it when he saw Max had slightly shaky hands. 

They sat in silence for a few moments, giving Max the much needed time to calm down and to recalibrate now that he knew for certain that the boy with his arms around him was more than just a boy. More than just an Alpha. 

He was Max’s boy. 

He was Max’s Alpha. 

“Now that I’m your boyfriend,” Max grinned as he looked up at Dan. Dan gave him a slightly narrowed eyed looked, almost as though he knew Max was going to come out with a cheeky comment, “Does that mean I’m allowed to steal all of your hoodies and t-shirts?”

“Funnily enough, baby, I think people might notice if you start walking around with my scent all over you.”

“Let them notice,” Max shrugged, “Just because we’re dating and ‘courting’, it doesn’t mean anything, not to anyone else. It does to us, and you know what I want from this. You know I want you to mark me and claim me as yours, but I understand that you want to wait and it hurts my heart but I’m oddly glad that you do. And we can take it slow. And that’s what matters. We know when will be the right time for us, but everyone should know that I’m off the market at the very least.”

“Yes you fucking are,” Dan growled, and when Max smirked he knew what he’d done. 

He’d fallen right into the trap. 

The sky-coloured trap of his boy’s eyes and he’d fallen for it. 

“You fucking brat,” Dan rumbled, tilting Max’s jaw to nip at his ear. 

“And only ever for you,” Max reminded him as he broke out of Dan’s hold long enough to drink his coffee. 

“Better be,” Dan grumbled, however when he kissed Max’s cheek and nosed over his jawline, his nose was attacked by the rich, sweet pheromones of having pleased his Omega. 

They sat in a relative silence for a little while, neither of them feeling obligated to make conversation but were instead happy to coexist. Dan was running his hand up and down Max’s leg, lost in thought on how to say what he wanted to as Max stared out of the window. 

“My parents are going away this weekend,” he murmured, dragging Max’s attention to him, “And I wanted to know if you want to stay over. You can have my room and I’ll sleep in my sister’s old room, but I just thought it’d be nice if we could, you know, have dinner together and watch a movie in a place where we aren’t worrying about who sees us, you know?”

Max sighed and dropped his head onto Dan’s shoulder again. 

“You know we won’t be able to do that,” Max sighed, “There’s no way my Dads are going to let me. They don’t even know about us, Dan, how am I meant to get away with staying at yours all weekend? Staying at an unmated Alpha’s house _unsupervised_ , all weekend?”

“You know I would never touch you without your consent, right? Like, you’re not worried about me doing something to you, are you? Because I’m sorry if I’ve ever given you that impression and I’d never mean to I just-”

“Dan, I know you wouldn’t, it’s okay. I’m trying to say that my parents won’t trust you. They won’t trust you to keep your hands to yourself. And they won’t listen to me if I say that you will because they’ll just say I’m enamoured with you and wouldn’t believe you could ever hurt me, when they think that’s what you’ll do.”

Dan sighed and nodded sadly, 

“I thought you’d say that, I just thought it was worth a shot.”

“Unless,” Max murmured, squeezing his eyes shut as he considered his next words, “Unless I tell them I’m stay at Lando’s. Charles will cover for me if anything comes up, and Lando will do this for us.”

“Max I don’t want you to lie to your parents.”

“We’re already sneaking around. What’s one more lie to add to the list?”

“This is more than us leaving school to get coffee together, Maxy. This is you actively entering another Alpha’s house without permission from _your Alphas_.”

“But you’re my Alpha too,” Max reminded him, “And I think it’s time that I stop worrying about what everyone else wants and start paying attention to what I want. And what I want is to have you to myself for a couple of days. And I say fuck it, let’s do it. We’ll tell them I’m at Lando’s, and I’ll tell Lando to cover for me and we can tell Charles that I’m at yours if that makes you feel better. Let’s do this. Let’s take a leap of faith.”

And as much as Dan wanted to agree, to whisk Max away now and have him in his bed and cuddle him and kiss him until the end of time, he knew the risks they were taking. 

Fuck it

“Okay,” he agreed, “You have to talk to Charles though.”

“I promise, Alpha,” Max grinned, pushing up and kissing Dan hard, happiness coursing through his scent and as Dan kissed him back, there was only one thing on his mind. 

This was going to be the best worst decision he had ever made.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> :)
> 
> We love dumb idiots making dumb decisions
> 
> Definitely won't backfire😏
> 
> Kudos, comments and feedback always greatly appreciated💙
> 
> Tumblr is at 3303andmore if you want to shout about Dan for being weak to agreeing to his boy lmao


	3. Chapter 3

Max stood in the boys bathroom, scrubbing at his neck with one of Charles’ t-shirts he’d had the foresight to pack into his bag and praying it was enough. 

He didn’t want to do this. He loved smelling like Daniel. The warmth, protection and love that emanated from him when Daniel scented him and left his claim even without the mark pleased Max to no end. His body had even controlled its reactions to sitting on his lap and kissing him, and Max knew that it was because Dan was the one. Smelling like his Alpha was all Max wanted, and the more he scrubbed Charles’ scent over him so as not to draw attention, tears pricked at his eyes.

Why was he a bad person for falling in love with the one boy that would always keep him safe?

Max screwed his eyes shut, balancing his elbows on the corner of the sink as he buried his face in his hands.

Why did everything had to be so fucking complicated?

“Have fun with Ricciardo?”

Max opened his eyes and whirled around, dropping Charles’ t-shirt and staring at him.

“What?”

“Did you have fun with Daniel Ricciardo?” Charles asked monotonously.

“I didn’t-”

“If you’re going to deny it, try not coming back reeking of that Alpha then.”

“I don’t-”

“Seriously Max, stop fucking lying to me. What the fuck are you playing at?”

Max looked at Charles, saw the mild fury in his eyes, and stuttered out a breath. He could barely see straight through the tears, Charles blurring in front of him.

“It was just a date.”

“Yeah? First time you’ve ever done anything with him and you’re sneaking off campus to go and what? Fuck in his car? Good choice, Max. Really fucking smart.”

“I didn’t have sex with him, we just talked...”

“You don’t reek like that unless you got some action. Why him? He’s not good enough!” Charles was close to losing his temper with Max, and yet Max saw red at the words.

Before he even realised it, Max slammed Charles up against the bathroom door, holding him tight at the implication his Alpha wasn’t enough. Even through his tears, Max snarled at his brother.

“Don’t you dare-”

“He’s your fucking mate...” Charles realised, rolling his eyes and sighing at his twin brother. “You fucking asshole.”

Max let go of Charles and scrambled back.

“What-”

“Here,” Charles sighed, shaking his head as he tugged his hoodie off, not addressing whatever the issue was, “Put this on. Get him off you. Dad will lose his shit when he finds out.”

Charles held his hoodie out, staring lifelessly at Max and waited for him to take it. Max didn’t want to, but he knew he had to. Shakily he pulled his sweater off, dropping it onto the sinks and dragged Charles’ hoodie over his head.

“Are you gonna tell Dad?” Max whispered as he watched Charles bundle Max’s sweater in with the fabrics in his backpack, trying to mask Daniel’s scent with his own. 

The twins had always shared a scent, their combined twin status overruling others easily. And mixing their clothes together was the easiest way of spreading their pack scent. 

“No,” Charles shrugged, “But he’ll find out. You know he will.”

“Are you mad at me?”

Charles thought about it for a moment and then shrugged.

“I don’t know. A little bit, yeah. More mad that you didn’t tell me about him. How can I keep you safe if you hide this shit?”

“We’ve been sneaking around for over a month,” Max quietly admitted. 

“Of course you fucking have.” Charles sighed and pulled his backpack on.

Max picked up Charles t-shirt he’d been using to get Dan’s scent off him and folded it carefully to place back in his bag. 

“Do me a favour,” Charles told him, “Don’t go near him in my jumper. I’m already going to be trying to stop Dad from killing you. I don’t need him thinking we’re fighting for the same Alpha.”

Max nodded and tightly whispered ‘I promise’ murmured before Charles took one last look at him and left.

💙   
  
Charles knew about us   
  
How   
  
Caught me in the bathroom and told me that I reek of you   
  
Fuck   
  
Are you okay   
  
Do you want me   
  
I can’t   
  
Charles will kill me   
  
I’m so sorry my prince I should’ve thought about him picking up on this   
  
He’ll still cover for me this weekend   
  
Maybe we shouldn’t do this   
  
Fuck that   
  
I want you   
  
Not in a sexual way   
  
Well obvs in a sexual way   
  
But I also want to hang out with you   
  
I’m making a right tit of this aren’t I   
  
You’re so fucking cute   
  
I can’t wait to see what you’re like when you’re sleepy   
  


Max cradled his phone to his chest, tapping off his messages with Dan and looking at his lock screen.

He knew he was pushing things, risking his Dads seeing it, but fuck it. Max liked it.

The picture was simple, and if you didn’t _look_ properly you wouldn’t make out precisely what it was. 

But Max knew.

As did Daniel.

Dan’s arms tied around his waist with Max’s right hand balanced over them. Taken in the bathroom of the coffee shop. A reminder of the good times even when Max knew it wouldn’t be long before his Dads ripped that away from him. 

He just wanted a weekend with Dan to pretend everything was normal and they weren’t ruled by their status. It was bullshit. Daniel was his. And that’s all Max gave a shit about. 

-

“So, why him?” Charles asked as he fell onto Max’s bed that night. 

“I don’t know,” Max honestly admitted, “He just makes me so happy, and so warm inside. It’s like when I’m with him, nothing else matters, because I’ve got him, you know? And I know you don’t really like him and he’s got a reputation for fighting and that-”

“Max, he’s been suspended from school so many times for fighting. You can understand why we’d be scared for you.”

“He’s different with me. He treats like I’m glass but let’s me do what I want. He’s not a normal Alpha. He’s so happy and smiley and warm, and he smells so fucking good.”

“How longs the sneaking around been going on?”

“Pretty much since we turned 17. I helped him with some homework in mid-October, and it just kept going. He makes me really happy, Charles.”

“What do you even do with him?”

“Normal stuff, you know? We sit together, hold hands, he scents me sometimes and I scent him. We kiss, make out, and he’ll put his hands on my hips but he never moves them anywhere else.”

Charles scrubbed his hands through his hair and sighed at Max. He seemed to be doing a lot of that today.

Max sat on his hands to stop Charles from seeing them shake.

“Dad is gonna kill you, he shouldn’t be scenting you, Max.”

“What like you’re not already doing that too? Charles, just because he’s a beta doesn’t mean you don’t reek of him.”

Charles went wide eyed as he realised Max knew.

“That’s why you know I’m not gonna tell Dad… because you know about me and Pierre.”

“I wouldn’t tell him anyway. It’s your life, Charles. We need to stop letting them control us. We’re nearly 18, we can make our own decisions.”

“Max we’re barely even seventeen. And Dads are just looking out for us. You know they want us to be safe.”

“And Dan keeps me safe! Charles you have to understand that when I’m with him, I’m _safe_. No one is going to fight Dan, are they?”

“But what if you need to fight him? You’re not strong enough to stop him.”

“Yes, I am, Charles. I’m his mate, you already know that. He wouldn’t hurt me.”

Max got up from his desk chair and came to lay beside Charles.

He pulled his phone from his pocket, unlocked it and flipped to the photo app. 

“Look at these and tell me he’d hurt me,” Max whispered, handing his phone over and letting his brother flick through the photos of him and Dan. 

There was a lot of them.

Ones of their hands tied, ones of their legs pressed together, Dan kissing Max’s cheek. 

Charles snarled protectively at the one of Dan kissing the mating juncture on Max’s neck.

Charles ripped Max’s shirt aside, checking there was nothing there. 

“He won’t claim me until I’m 18. He wants me to come of age first,” Max whispered to placate him.

“You could have anyone on the planet. Why did you have to choose him?”

“I didn’t choose, Charles. The world put us together. He walked past me and I had to sneak into the fucking bathrooms to stop myself running after him. I sat on his lap the other day and he was kissing me and I said stop because I was so fucking close to pushing his hand down my trousers and letting him touch me. I didn’t choose all of that, we just mixed perfectly and he’s the one that I want.”

“Alright Grease, calm down,” Charles muttered, begrudgingly looking back at the photos. 

He kept flicking and saw the pure happiness on Max’s face, the way he was laughing and smiling.

When he got to the final photo, he simply stopped. 

It was of them kissing, clearly where it had been caught off guard as the picture was slightly blurred and you couldn’t exactly tell who either party was. 

But it was such a pure and soft moment between them. 

“Do you love him?” Charles quietly asked, locking the phone and passing it to Max.

“I don’t know, maybe, but it’s only been a month and a half-ish, and he is my mate, Charles, I’m going to fall in love with him one day.”

“I don’t like it,” Charles admitted, “It was always meant to be you and me, us against the world. I don’t want him to take you from me.”

“He won’t stop me from seeing you, Charles, he’s not that kind of boy. He knows what you mean to me, _we_ have a special connection in the same way I do with Dan. You’re still my best friend and my brother no matter what.”

Charles nodded and threw himself at Max, nuzzling his throat to get any lingering underlying smell of the Alpha off him.

“Why do we have to grow up, Max?”

“Because that’s life, pup, we just do,” Max sighed, drawing Charles fully into his arms and snuggling him tight. 

Happiness soaked through the room, the combined fresh scent wafting through and encasing them in warmth and love. 

“Veljeni,” Max whispered, his eyes slowly closing from the weight of Charles against him breathing deeply as he fell asleep too.

Max woke up when he heard his parents poking their heads into his room, blearily opening his eyes to see them smiling at their pups. 

“Why’s he with you?” Sebastian asked, sitting on the edge of Max’s bed and brushing his hand protectively over them both. 

“Was talking,” Max mumbled, his eyes heavy with sleep, “Fell ‘sleep.”

“Do you want me to put him back in his bed?” Kimi asked him and Max simply tightened his grip on Charles.

“Let him stay,” Max told them, shuffling down to press his forehead against Charles’ and started to fall asleep again. 

His parents pulled the blanket over them and leaned down to kiss their foreheads, leaving their babies to fall asleep in the safety of each others arms. 

When Max dreamt that night, he dreamt of the day that he could bring his Alpha home, for Daniel to stand in their kitchen and Max could hold his hand and introduce them to each other. His Dads would smile and wish them happiness, give them their blessing for Daniel and Max to mate, for Max to spend his life with Daniel by his side. Charles was already planning their wedding and Valtteri hugged his little brother. 

He hated waking up and knowing that that would never happen. 

~~

“Have you asked your parents yet?” Daniel said, catching Max and pulling him into the toilets when no one was looking before their first period. 

Daniel pressed Max back into the stall door and placed his hands on his hips, dipping down to catch Max’s lips in his own. 

Max kissed him languidly back, stretching his arms around Daniel’s neck and burying his fingers in his curls. 

“Not yet,” Max murmured, “I spent most of the evening with Charles trying to talk him into understanding what we are.”

“Are things okay between you now?”

“Not exactly, I mean it’s not _bad_ , and we slept in the same room last night so I know he’s not, like, pissed at me, I guess, but I know he’s pretty mad. He just kept going on about how he doesn’t trust you and no matter how much I tried to tell him that things are good between us, that you’re not like the other Alphas, he just doesn’t get it. I knew it was going to be hard, but, I think, I thought,” Max sniffled slightly and Dan pulled Max into his arms when he saw the tears building, “I thought he’d at least trust me and I’d have someone on my side.”

“Baby,” Dan sighed, cradling Max tight and pressing kisses to his hair. 

“He’s my brother you know? And I want him to trust that I know what I’m doing, and he wants me to be happy but he’s just so mad at me. He doesn’t want us to grow up and I tried to tell him that things have to change one day, but he won’t really listen. And then at breakfast, normally he makes the drinks and I make the toast if Dad had to go into work early, and he just flat out refused to today. He didn’t want to be around me and I don’t know what to do. I thought we were fine but I don’t think we are and I don’t know what to do,” Max told him, looking up at his Alpha with wide and begging eyes that screamed for Daniel to tell him what to do. 

“I think you have to give him some time,” Daniel comforted, running his thumbs across Max’s rosy cheeks, “Just give him some time to process everything, to understand that you’re still his brother and you’re not going anywhere. I want you to be happy and I want you to still have him in your life, but don’t sacrifice him for me. I’m ready to wait until the end of time to have you in my arms, my pretty little Omega. I can wait.”

Max nodded and curled into Daniel’s front, wiping his face on Dan’s hoodie and inadvertently nosing his scent across Dan.

They’d both anticipated things being hard, both knew that Daniel was going to face a lot of adversity when it came to dating and courting Max, but Max had always banked on Charles being there to fight his corner with him. And now his brother was almost leaving him behind because of who Max’s Alpha was.

“Dan?” Max whispered tentatively, “Can I ask you something?”

“Always sweetheart,” Dan said, pressing a kiss to Max’s forehead. 

“Do you know about Charles?”

Dan looked down at Max, waiting to see if he’d elaborate before he said, 

“About him sneaking off with that Beta? Yeah, I know about it.”

“Do you think he’s mad at me for getting you? Because I got an Alpha and he got a Beta?”

Dan puffed his cheeks out as he breathed out, shaking his head slowly. 

“I have no idea, maybe. I don’t think he is, but it’s happened before were sibling rivalry has affected the way in which they react to bonding’s.”

“I thought that’s what you were going to say…” Max shrugged, sadly tugging his fingers through Dan’s curls, “I don’t want things to change. It’s so much easier when everything is just the same with us. Why do things have to change?”

“That’s life, Maxy, we grow up, we learn new things, we adapt to our new environments. We change so that the world doesn’t change too much in our absence. This isn’t permanent, baby. And one day things will be better with your family and us, but we need to give it time, okay?”

Max leant up to kiss Dan, feeling his Alpha’s comfort rumble through him as he pulled Max’s tighter against his front. 

Max gasped at the feeling of their hips rocking against each other and tentatively pushed back, circling his hips and hoping to entice his Alpha. 

“No, Max,” Daniel warned, pushing Max away from him when he saw Max’s eyes were glossing over.

“But Alpha-”

“No.”

Max let out breathy moans as he looked up at his Alpha, tugging on his bottom lip and batting his eyelashes at him to try and pull him back in. 

“Max. Stop, seriously.” Daniel had to use his authoritarian tone on Max, knowing that otherwise his Omega was going to end up dropping to his knees right here in the bathroom and try to swallow Dan down. 

And Dan really did not want their first time doing anything to be in the toilets at school. 

Max whimpered and bared his neck in submission, looking down at his feet and shrinking away when Dan reached out for him. 

“Baby-”

“I have class,” Max mumbled, grabbing his backpack and pushing past Dan out of the stall. 

Dan watched as Max splashed some water over his hands and scrubbed at his neck and arms before walking out. 

Of course the Alpha didn’t want him. 

That’s why he was so against mating with Max. 

Maybe despite Max wanting him to mate with him, he didn’t want to be with Max. 

Daniel had a reputation, there was no denying it. And why would he go for the one kid in school who was frigid and awkward with no experience and probably couldn’t even suck the head of the Alpha’s cock without gagging and crying?

He wouldn’t, and it’s why he didn’t want Max’s scent on him. 

Why limit yourself to one Omega when you can have the whole school?

Sitting in his first period German class, Max sat at the back in the corner, hunched over his textbook and did the work silently by himself. Normally he’d sit with Alex, the happy little beta in his class that always had time to talk to Max and make him feel like he had friends. After his encounter with Dan combined with Charles’ behaviour in the morning, Max simply wanted to be alone. 

He always did better when he was alone and no one could tell him otherwise. 

You couldn’t get your heartbroken if there was no one around to do it. 

That was the better option. 

His phone was silently lighting up insistently as Max tried to focus on translating the passage in front of him, but it was hard when he knew just who it was that was messaging him.

He chanced a look up and saw his teacher was on the other side of the class and wouldn’t take notice of Max. 

Five messages had already loaded, and Max watched more as poured in.

💙   
  
I’m sorry for upsetting you   
  
I didn’t mean to pull status   
  
I just don’t want our first time to be in the toilets   
  
I care about you   
  
You’re my pretty, hilarious, smart, stunning, amazing mate   
  
I want you to be happy and im so mad for pulling rank   
  
Not mad at yo  
  
Never at you   
  
Only myself   
  
I wish I could hug you and kiss you and tell you how sorry I am   
  
okay   
  
Im so sorry for what I did maxy   
  
Please know I just want you to be safe na dhappy and well   
  
And the first time will be intense and I don’t want you to feel like you have to hold back   
  
I want to be able to lay you out on my bed and take things very slowly   
  
Giving you all the time ad breaks you need  
  
I don’t want to rush things with you, I wna tit to be perfect   
  
Because you’re perfect   
  
And you only deserve perfection   


Max knew Daniel was right, and he didn’t want his first time to be in the school toilets anymore than Dan did. And he wasn’t _mad_ at Daniel, just insecure. 

He wasn’t good enough for Dan, why could he possibly think he was? 

Max’s phone locked automatically after the onslaught of activity stopped abruptly, most likely due to Daniel being caught on his phone when he should be paying attention to his biology class. But what caught him was his lock screen.

The way Daniel had so carefully wrapped his arms around Max’s waist and pressed a kiss to his cheek, his strong arms cradling Max like fine glass that he was afraid to damage. Daniel had smiled a lot yesterday, looking at Max when he thought Max wasn’t paying attention and smiling like he couldn’t believe they were finally there on a date together. 

Maybe he could be enough for the Alpha

💙   
  
I know   
  
I’m sorry too  
  


It was a simple text, but Max really had nothing more to say. He knew Daniel was right to do what he did regardless of the fact that it still hurt. 

He just hoped that it would be enough to not lose the Alpha forever. 

He didn’t want his heart to get broken. He was tired of being alone.

tiny twin   
  
I want to be with Dan  
  
I know   
  
I think I messed things up   
  
How   
  
He stopped me from getting off with him in the toilets   
  
And I ran off because I was upset   
  
And now Im scared he wont want me anymore   
  
Bullshit   
  
I saw the way he looked at you   
  
That’s the same way Dad looks at Isä   
  
That fucker is yours forever   
  
Much ot my fkin dismay   
  
Are you mad at me for it   
  
Not really   
  
Not now anyway   
  
Gonna rip the shit out of you for getting with Daniel fuckin Ricciardo of all men   
  
But if he makes you happy fuck the world Max   
  
Im fucking tired of people telling us what to do with our lives   
  
Fuck him if you want to and then ditch him if you want to   
  
Its just sex   
  
Bet his dicks tiny anyway   
  
I mean I felt it the other day   
  
It defo weren’t small   
  
Honestly got no idea how it would fit you know   
  
I fuckig hate yo   
  
lmao   
  
You started it   
  
I regret existence   
  
When did u and pierre start anyway   
  
End of year 11   
  
At prom   
  
Sucked him off in the toilets   
  
Think he cried   
  
Classic Charles Räikkönen-Vettel move right there   
  
Suck em off make em cry   
  
I should make that my campaign motto when I run for president   
  
You mean prime minister   
  
Shit yeah lmao   
  
Forgot we live in England   
  
You absolute knobhead   
  
And that's why you love me   


“Max, phone away please,” his teacher told him and Max nodded, dropping his phone onto his leg and looking back at his work. Except, his brother really did never stop texting him and Max looked down at his phone under the table. 

tiny twin   
  
Can we run for president in Finland or Germany   
  
or do they hate us   
  
not lived there long enough   
  
Fuck   
  
I wanted to piss more people off lmao   
  
You already do that enough with dad and isä   
  
And me and Val   
  
Probs pierre too   
  
defo pierre lol   
  
Think he nearly blocked me last night   
  
I sent him 47 tiktoks   
  
That’s why I did block you   
  
wankstain   
  
Can we learn a tiktok dance tho   
  
I found a really funny one and pierre said no lmao   
  
Sure   
  
I love you   
  
Now I don’t want to do it anymore   
  
OH SO WHEN IM NICE YOU DON’T LIKE ME   
  
Its just weird lmao   
  
dickhead   
  
love you too   
  
NOW I DON’T WANT TO TALK TO YOU ANYMORE   
  
Alright bye   
  
No pls come back charlotte isn’t here and im alone   
  
Max   
  
Max   
  
Maxy   
  
Maximus   
  
Max Emilian Räikkönen-Vettel   
  
Max   
  
MAX   
  
COME BACK AND TALK TO ME   
  
I hate you   
  
I’m telling dan you cry at high school musical   
  
Tell him   
  
FUCK   
  
I thought that you’d shout at me nd say I cant   
  
Nah he already knows   
  
Most People: hangs out with their boyfriend to have sex   
  
Raikkonen-Vettel Twins: hangs out with their boyfriends to cry over Zac Efron   
  
That’s the most accurate thing you’ve said yet   
  
But also   
  
A valid mood   
  
WHAT TEAM   
  
WILDCATS   
  
WHAT TEAM   
  
WILDCATS   
  
WHAT TEAM   
  
WILDCATS   
  
WILDCATS   
  
GETCHA HEAD IN THE GAME   


“Max, I’m serious, phone away please,” His teacher told him again and Max this time did put his phone away. 

“Sorry,” Max smiled, slumping in his chair and picking up his pen to start working again. 

Things may still be difficult, but at least he had his brother at his side again. 

There wasn’t much in life Max was confident about, but knowing that his brother would always be around no matter how mad he’d started the day at him was the one saving grace in the world.

💙   
  
Im gonna talk to my dads tonight   
  
I want to spend the weekend with you   
  
If that’s still okay ofc   
  


It took until the end of the lesson and Max was heading to the library to wait out his free period before heading home with Charles that he got Dan’s text back. 

💙   
  
I want nothing more than that angel   
  
Want to spend forever with you   
  
But ill take a weekend if that’s all we can have   
  


Max resisted the urge to text back and remind Dan that he could have Max forever if he just mated with him. 

It wasn’t worth another argument. 

What it was worth was having Daniel hold him in his arms as he fell asleep, their legs intertwined and Daniel’s hand buried in his hair, gently soothing him and grumbling deep in his chest as the most perfect lullaby to fill Max’s dreams with. 

Charles had asked him yesterday if he loved Dan, and Max had said that he didn’t know.

Now, Max wasn’t sure if he’d accidentally lied to his brother or not. 

It was quick, of course it was. Max knew that. Six weeks with someone wasn’t very long together to admit those three dangerous words. 

But it was always different with mates. 

The bond stronger. 

The bond tighter.

The love escalating to a point in which you couldn’t envision life without them. 

Max dropped his head onto his textbook as he thought about it. The hardships making his head hurt as he tried to consider whether he did ‘love’ Dan yet, or whether he was just in love with the idea of loving Dan. 

Maybe it was both. 

“God I hate boys,” Max sighed, gently bashing his head into the textbook in frustration. 

That was a lie, he really didn’t. 

He just hated figuring things out.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> :)
> 
> Kudos, comments, and feedback always greatly appreciated💙
> 
> Tumblr is at 3303andmore if you want to come and hang out lmao


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> just to say here too:  
> I spoke about on tumblr earlier about how today marks 1 year since I started writing for this fandom. my first fic was a Maxiel lowkey angsty drabble bc I am Forever On Brand and I just am forever soft for how welcoming this community has been and how lovely everyone has been about me sharing my stuff?? I just am soft and thank you for reading my stuff. I appreciate u💖
> 
> ANYWAY
> 
> Back to the fic:
> 
> soft boys :) we love to see it :)

“Hey Dad, can I stay at my mate’s house this weekend?” Max asked over dinner, trying to appear as blasé and normal as possible so as not to arouse suspicion. 

He saw the sharp look Charles threw at him instantly, not understanding why Charles looked so done with him, until he heard his Isä and Valtteri both rumble aggressively. 

“Your what?” Kimi asked sternly. 

“My mate…” Max repeated, only to suddenly realise, “OH! No, no I didn’t mean an actual _mate_ mate, I meant my friend. Lando. I meant my mate as in a pal, a friend, a dude I hang out with, a bro, you know what I mean?”

Max saw Charles sigh and drop his head into his hands and mouth the words ‘oh for fucks sake’. 

“There’s a new FIFA pack coming out and we want to play it,” Max tried to tell them, ignoring Charles who simply looked like he wanted to stab both Max and himself with his knife. 

“You want to stay at Lando’s?”

“Yeah,” Max nodded, “Just from like Friday after school to Sunday evening. I’ll be back by the time I need to get ready for school the next day, but like I just want to hang out with him for the weekend.”

“You better not be sneaking around with some fucking Alpha, Max,” Valtteri growled, staring at him.

Max tensed automatically, wanting to defend Dan but also knowing that this wasn’t how they should tell his family. And when he did tell them, he wanted it to be with Daniel by his side, giving them chance to talk before his family immediately barred him from being with him. 

To be fair, if Max had his way, they just never would.

Valtteri’s stare was getting more intense and he saw his Dads exchange a look, and Max’s heart automatically quickened. 

God how was he meant to reply to this?

Anything he could’ve possibly said was interrupted by Charles scoffing. 

“Please. Max, sneaking around with an Alpha? You’ve got more chance of Big Ben being replaced by the Statue of fucking Liberty. Max doesn’t know _how_ to sneak around. He has anxiety, _remember_? He won’t be doing shit without crying about it, you know he can’t lie.” Charles answered, staring at Valtteri and giving Max what should’ve been a shitty look but Max knew it was just a ruse. 

There was a reason why his Dads always said that Max and Charles were pure terror together. 

“He better not be.”

“You’re not his Dad, Valtteri, take a fuckin’ chill pill.”

“Charles, stop swearing please,” Sebastian murmured, and Charles rolled his eyes, shovelling more food into his mouth and winking at Max when no one was looking. 

“Please, Dad, I promise we’ll behave,” Max told them. 

His Dads exchanged another look, one that he couldn’t exactly decipher but what didn’t exactly look good. Charles saw the way his expression gradually got more worried at the silence of his Dads and pressed their ankles together under the table, a small show of solidarity. 

“Okay,” Sebastian eventually said, “But you have to be home by 6 on Sunday and text us to let us know you got to Lando’s okay, alright?”

Max grinned and nodded, shooting up off his chair and wrapping his arms around his parents tight. 

“Thank you thank you thank you,” Max chanted and his parents grumbled and cooed back at him. 

“Just have fun, yeah? You’ve been working a bit too hard lately, you deserve a break with your friends,” Seb told him, brushing Max’s hair off his forehead and smoothing it back. 

“I know, Dad, it’ll be nice to have some time away with him,” Max smiled. 

Charles smirked and raised his eyebrow. Max gave him a look that told him ‘don’t say a fucking word’ and Charles’ smirk transpired into a full blown grin.

**Today** 19:02   
tiny twin   
  
I hope you know   
  
My silence and defending of you costs   
  
What do u want   
  
Let me steal one of your islanders on Animal Cross and also let me sell my turnips on your island and also you’ve got to give me half of your bells   
  
fine you wanker   
  


💙   
  
**Today** 19:03   
All set for this weekend💙   
  
Dads say gotta be home for 6 on Sunday   
  
But im all yours from the second school finishes on Friday   
  
Is it cheesy if I tell you I just got the biggest fuckin smile on my face   
  
Im so excited   
  
Cant wait to kiss you again  
  
Bring your comfiest clothes bc I don’t plan on us getting out of blankets all weekend   
  
Im stealing your hoodie   
  
Typical fkin boyfriend smh   
  
Only with me for my hoodies   
  
The only good thing about you tbh   
  
Don’t like your face   
  
Just your hoodies   
  
I was gonna buy you pizza and now I wont   
  
Alright   
  
Your face is pretty good I guess   
  
PRETTY GOOD   
  
Like a 6/10   
  
Been a while since I saw it   
  
Im at least a 10/10   
  
you however   
  
A solid 9.9   
  
rude   
  
💙   
  
Just jk babe   
  
You’re a 10/10   
  
I disagree   
  
I’m right   
  
I’m an 11   
  
Okay yeah your right   
  
You’re*   
  
Nvm I hate you again   
  


tiny twin   
**Today** 19:17   
Stop texting your boyfriend and finish your dinner so I can get my new islanders   
  
I will stab you in the throat   
  
Rather have pierre’s dick in my throat tbh   
  
Whore   
  
That’s my branding *finger guns*  
  
I regret the day that I exited the embryo sack and had to deal with the fact that we are related   
  
I'm your favourite shush   
  


Neither of the twins saw the suspicious look on Valtteri’s face. If they had, Max probably would’ve hidden his screen a bit better. 

~~

“Can’t wait for tomorrow,” Dan whispered, holding Max tight and pressing kissed up his jaw, “Can’t wait to hold your hand and no one can stop me.”

“I can’t wait to steal your hoodie,” Max grinned cheekily and Dan nipped at his jaw. 

“Easy pup,” Dan grinned as Max moaned against him, pushing their hips together, “Now now, behave, pretty boy.”

“Gonna have so much fun teasing you this weekend,” Max cooed, kissing the underside of Dan’s jaw.

“Keep it in your pants and you can do whatever you want baby boy.”

“Wish I could get you outta your pants.”

“Max seriously, stop it,” Dan warned, “I want that more than anything, of course I do. You know I do. But we’re going to wait.”

Max rolled his eyes and nodded in acquiescence.

“Fine, but I still don’t like it.”

“I know baby, I know,” Dan pulled Max into his arms properly again and tucked Max under his chin, “It won’t be forever, my love. I promise. One day I’m going to lay you out on my bed and make slow, sweet love to you, but we don’t have to rush things, okay?”

Max was silent for a moment, allowing Dan to nuzzle his hair as he stood there. 

“But why have you fucked everyone else and yet you won’t fuck me?” Max asked, all of his insecurity from the day before coming back.

“What?” Daniel said, going rigid around him.

“Do you think I do know?” Max asked, pushing out of Dan’s grip and stumbling away to sit on the edge of the sinks, “The reason why no one is going to believe that you’re my Alpha? You’ve fucked half the school, and suddenly I’m not good enough? Why?! What is it about me that’s not enough?! Why can you fuck everyone else without hesitation and you won’t even let me talk about your fucking dick?!”

Daniel clenched his jaw as he stared at Max.

“I don’t want to be another one of your conquests but at least then I’d know if you actually loved me,” Max’s voice trailed off towards the end, tears falling.

“Why would you possibly think that?” Dan asked incredulously and Max’s heart felt like it was going to explode. 

Dan didn’t love him...

“Why would you possibly think I have to fuck you to fall in love with you? Jesus fucking Christ Max. You’re my fucking mate!”

Max flinched and pulled into himself at the volume of the Alpha’s anger.

“No, no, no Max I’m sorry, I’m so sorry, please don’t be scared, I’m so sorry,” Daniel begged, crouching down in front of Max and stroking his calf, “I didn’t mean to raise my voice, I’m sorry baby, please don’t be scared of me.”

“But you don’t love me-” Max let out of soft sob, “-How can you possibly give a fuck it you’re not going to fall in love with me?”

“I do love you, you silly boy, you’re my baby, yeah? My boy, my mate. I love you to the ends of the earth but it’s still so soon, I didn’t want to scare you off.”

“But if you love me why won’t you let us do this?”

Daniel sighed and grabbed Max’s hand, standing up as he did so. He placed Max’s hand on the front of his jeans and winced at trying to keep from rutting into Max’s smaller hand.

“Because if that’s what I do when I feel your hand on me, imagine what it’s going to be like when I see you naked. The first time is going to be intense, Max, and you don’t understand that. You’re acting like it’s as simple as me sticking my dick in you, moving it a couple of times and that’s it. It’s not. And you don’t understand that yet. You’re not ready no matter how much you want it. Your brain tells _you_ that you are ready, but your scent tells _me_ how fucking terrified of it you are without even knowing it.”

“But if you’re so scared of hurting me why do you let me sit on your lap all the time and feel you underneath me?”

“Because I can control it when I can think straight, Max. And when you’re on my lap, I’m thinking about making you smile. When you’re doing shit like this, I’m thinking about bending you over the sinks and knotting you until you scream. That’s the difference. And when you’re on my lap, your body is unconsciously accustoming itself to what will come in time. But you need to give it time, Max. If you seriously cannot wait until you’re 18, at least give it a few months. Let the bliss of a new relationship pass and then we can start to talk about taking the next step. But it’s not going to be for a while, preferably not until you’re 18.”

“I hate waiting,” Max whined.

“Max,” Daniel’s voice took a more seriously tone and when he refused to look at Max, he knew what he was going to say, “If this is how you’re going to be, maybe it’s a bad idea you coming over. I thought you’d be okay but I don’t think you will be.”

“Don’t you dare make decisions about me for me.” Max hissed, getting in the Alpha’s face at the accusation that he couldn’t control himself.

“Yeah? You going to be okay being surrounded by my fucking scent all weekend? Being in my room and seeing my things? Fuck, Max, I can deal with it if you start nesting, but if you go into heat because of it, because this is how you’re acting at just the _idea_ , we’re fucked. We are literally going to have no choice but for me to fuckin’ lock you in my room and have me leave the house so I can get your brother to come over and help me calm you down. Your parents will murder us. Not me. Not you. _Us_. Because _we_ made a stupid decision. And if you’re going to act like a child when I’m trying to keep you safe, we’ll just call it off.”

“Call what off?” Max’s face dropped, dread coursing through him at the implication that Daniel wanted to end things between them.

“This weekend, I want you to come over, I really do. I want you in my arms and to eat shitty pizza and drink coffee at 3am because we don’t want to fall asleep. But if you’re going to act like this because I’m trying to be a good Alpha and give your parents reasons to like me, I’m going to pull rank and stop you making decisions, Max. I don’t want to, but I need to keep you safe. It’s the only thing I care about.”

“But you don’t want to split up? You still want to date me, right?” Max asked as he grabbed Dan’s hand, “You still love me?”

“Of course I love you, you silly little shit,” Dan rumbled, pulling Max into him and pressing their bodies together as he tilted Max’s chin up. 

He caught Max’s lips in a rough kiss, pushing all the love and care he could into it as he reassured his Omega that he did still love him. 

Max had tears streaming down his face as Daniel cradled his jaw, a stark contrast to the toughness of the kiss. 

“Dan, I can’t,” Max whimpered, pulling away from Dan, “I need you.”

“Not here, Max.”

“Please, Dan, please.”

Dan sighed and flipped them so he was standing with his back pressed against the door and Max was stood with his legs bracketing Dan’s thigh. 

“Come here,” Dan whispered, pulling on the loops of Max’s jeans and allowing him to rut against his thigh, “I’m not going to touch you, I won’t, but if you need it...”

Max sighed into Dan’s mouth and pulled away, stepping back from the Alpha and taking a deep breath.

“We shouldn’t do that, should we?”

“No, angel, but do you understand why?”

Max nodded slowly, looking down at his trainers as he toyed with the hem of his jumper.

“Because it won’t just stop with that, and our first time shouldn’t be here.”

“Exactly, baby. I want nothing more than to sleep with you and mate you and have you be my pretty little mate, but we don’t need to rush things, okay?”

“Can you- can you go? I need to sort myself out and I don’t want you to have to deal with my scent going crazy,” Max whispered and Daniel nodded.

“Find me later if you need me, yeah?” 

Max nodded shortly. 

“I love you, yeah?” 

“Love you too,” Max agreed.

“You gonna be okay?”

Max shrugged and nodded. 

“I still want to stay at yours this weekend, I promise to behave myself.”

“I still want that too, baby boy, but text me tonight, yeah? We can talk about it later. You get yourself sorted and I’ll go and tell Susie that you just need some time out of class, and you can go and get your work later, okay?”

Max cooed at his Alpha taking care of him and nodded, trying to reassure him that things were okay between them.

“Scent me before you go?” Max tentatively asked as he looked up at Dan with wide and nervous eyes.

“Of course, baby,” Dan agreed, stepping back into Max’s personal space and rested his hand against Max’s jaw. 

Instinctively, Max leant into the touch, nuzzling against the Alpha’s palm as Dan leant in to kiss his neck.

“We’re going to be alright, I promise Max. You’re stressing out about things, and it’s okay to slow down. We’ll talk this weekend, yeah?”

Max whimpered and nodded, turning his head to capture Dan’s lips in a brief kiss.

“I’m really sorry for my behaviour, I know it was out of order,” Max said, a smile breaking free when the rich scent of a pleased Alpha hit his nose.

“I know, Max, I know. Like I said, we can talk properly this weekend, okay?”

“Can’t wait,” Max agreed before letting his Alpha go. 

Talking.

That’s what was important.

As much as his Omega side was screaming at him to please Daniel, to offer himself up to him for him to do as he wished, he knew Dan was right. 

They needed to talk.

They needed to take things slow.

“Right, I’m gonna fuck off and you can have a wank in peace,” Daniel grinned and Max flushed at the crude language.

“It’s your fault,” he grumbled, “You shouldn’t be so hot.”

“That’s why you love me, baby,” Dan winked, grabbing his backpack and wandering off with a ‘bye baby!’ thrown over his shoulder. 

Maybe Charles was onto something when he questioned just why it was that Max had ended up with Daniel Ricciardo of all people as his mate. 

Did Max not suffer enough already being related to the most dramatic person on the planet? Why must he be punished with being mates with the second most dramatic person on the planet?

Max was a good guy... 

He didn’t deserve this much chaos...

~~~~~~

Walking into Dan’s house the next afternoon, Max clutched tightly onto his hand. 

His heart and stomach were tingling with anxiety and yet the second he walked in, it was like he was home.

“Well, welcome to my home,” Dan said bashfully, rubbing his neck with his hand as he hung Max and his backpacks up on the coatrack whilst Max toed his trainers off. 

Carefully Dan spun Max and pulled his jacket off his shoulders, pressing kisses to Max’s neck as the jacket was freed from him and leaving Max in a soft white sweater and his black skinny jeans.

“Want to put some sweats on?” Dan asked, tracing his hands down Max’s body and catching his bum in his hands.

“Definitely,” Max replied, “But I want to do this first...”

Max rested his hands against Dan’s shoulders and lent up to kiss his Alpha, leaning against him as he went on a slight tiptoe. 

Max and Dan were almost the same height, except Max’s body was naturally narrower, he was slightly shorter and his hands smaller than Dan’s. And so when Max leant up to kiss his Alpha, he balanced his hands on his broad shoulders and leant in close, feeling the Alpha possessively place his broad hands on the small of Max’s back to hold him steady.

“I’m really sorry about the last few days,” Max whimpered as he pulled away, “I know my behaviour has been... wrong.”

“Go and get changed, sweetheart, and then we can talk, okay?” Dan told him, gently pushing him gently in the direction of the stairs.

As Max headed up the stairs, the scent of the Alpha’s room was obvious. His body felt weak being surrounded by it, but he knew he had to prove to Daniel that he was good enough and strong enough, to stay here with him and not just keep asking to get fucked.

His heart kept telling him he wasn’t ready, especially after Dan had placed Max’s hand on his length yesterday to understand it properly. But his instincts were still going crazy, telling him it would be the best way of pleasing his Alpha.

However his fathers had raised him with respect, and he knew he had to respect the Alpha’s decision to want Max to wait. 

Instead, Max focused on getting changed, and as he walked into the Alpha’s room, it was like everything was meant to be.

Daniel hadn’t given Max his backpack, instead left it hanging up, and so Max thought it be justified that he do what he’d threatened and pulled one of the Alpha’s hoodies on instead along with a pair of his sweatpants. 

Dan’s legs were broader than Max and slightly longer, and Max had to tie them around his waist to keep from slipping too much, and also fold the cuffs up around his ankles to keep them from catching under his feet. The hoodie came next, and the strong scent of his Alpha surrounded him. 

One deep breath

Two deep breaths

Three deep breaths

Max looked in the mirror and laughed when he saw how _tiny_ he looked in the Alpha’s clothes. Daniel was bigger than him anyway, but he also had an affinity for buying oversized clothes, and when they were dressed on Max, he looked like a little boy in adult sized clothing.

“You alright baby?” Daniel shouted up the stairs and Max called back an affirmation.

He quickly folded his jeans and jumper and left them in a stack on Dan’s dresser to deal with later. 

“Oh wow,” Dan sighed as he took in sight of Max coming down the stairs.

Max pulled the sleeves of the hoodie down over his hands and nervously looked at Dan.

“Fuck, you look beautiful,” Dan whispered, stepping up to the stairs and catching Max on the bottom one.

For once Max was taller, and as he leant down to kiss his Alpha, Daniel traced his hands down Max’s body and picked him up suddenly.

Max gasped and grinned as the Alpha carried him easily through to the living room, having changed into sweats himself whilst Max was gone, and fell down onto the sofa, Max straddling his waist with his hands pressed against Dan’s neck. 

“You weren’t kidding about stealing my hoodie, didn’t expect you to take my sweats too,” Dan rumbled, pushing the hood down and nosing over Max’s neck.

Not that he needed to bother. The scent of Dan was already settling against Max’s skin, claiming him as Daniel’s, as the sweet scent of Omega mixed with the stronger musky scent of an Alpha. 

He was more scenting Max because Max loved it. Sitting on the Alpha’s lap, Dan brushing his nose, lips, tongue, teeth, anything he could over Max, subtly claiming him. Scraping his nails over Max’s neck, Max purred and tilted his head to get back to Daniel’s lips.

“You didn’t exactly give me a choice,” Max cheeked, “You stole my backpack.”

“Didn’t steal it, that’s illegal. I temporarily acquired it with all intention of returning it at some point. That’s called borrowing,” Dan joked, nipping at Max’s ear.

“Is that how you justify things, you criminal? Whatever will my father say when he prosecutes you, huh? First you defile his son, then you steal from him, terrible crimes, your honour,” Max stuck his tongue out playfully at Dan who simply shrugged.

“Stole your heart, stole your bag, the only thing I didn’t steal was your virginity, and I think your father will be quite grateful for that.”

“Yeah... I guess he will,” Max quietly replied.

“I think we need to have a talk about that, don’t we?”

Max nodded somewhat reluctantly.

“So why don’t you tell me why you’re so adamant about us having sex and me claiming you, yeah?”

Max dropped his head for a moment, looking at his hands and fidgeting slightly before he forced himself to look up at Daniel. 

“Everyone talks about you, and how you sleep around and don’t care about people after it. I don’t mean you don’t care about them, but I mean you don’t stick around and have recurring partners I guess,” Max fumbled, looking for the right words as he scrubbed his hands over his face to try and understand what he wanted to say. Dan kept up a steady motion of scraping his nails over Max’s neck to keep him sated.

“You’re the first person that’s ever gotten close to me. Valtteri, he’s so fucking protective and the minute either me or Charles was approached by an Alpha, even as fucking kids, he’d start growling and not let us near them. And like I appreciate him being protective and looking out for us, but-”

“There’s a difference being protective and smothering someone,” Dan finished.

“Yes exactly! You do that, but you do it right. And that’s what I’m scared of. I’m scared that if someone stops you, we’ve got no way of proving that I want you and you want me. And if you claim me, mark me and that, people know it’s for real.”

“Or that I forcefully claimed you.”

“But you wouldn’t! You would never force yourself onto me-”

“But people will think that I coerced you, Max, that’s what you need to understand. The fact that I’ve allowed us to sneak around, it makes it look like I’m the one hiding it, not us. Courting you in secret, it can come across bad, and that’s what they’ll say. They’ll say that the second you turn up with a mark, especially if I’m not there, smelling of an unidentified Alpha and all fucked out, they’re going to kick off.”

“Is it really going to be that bad?” Max asked, all his innocence and naivety falling through.

“It could be, and that’s what we need to be prepared for.”

Max frowned and tucked himself under Dan’s chin, and Dan knew with the way Max had done so that he needed chance to think. Max did this thing were when he was lost in thought, he’d curl into himself and tie his hand around the cuff of his trousers. Dan had no idea why, but he’d seen it often enough and would always try to distract his young mate with soothing kisses instead. 

“Why does everything have to be so fucking complicated? Why can’t it just be as easy as ‘you sticking your dick in me, moving it a few times and that’s it’?”

Daniel laughed at Max repeating his words from yesterday, the slightly crude language sounding strange falling from Max’s innocent mouth. 

“One day, when you say naughty things like that...” Dan whispered, biting at Max’s jaw in warning.

Max didn’t need the sentence to be finished as he gasped and tilted his head, baring his neck to the Alpha, his eyes closing and his mouth falling open in pure bliss. 

“When we get used to each other, the instincts won’t be so extreme,” Dan murmured against Max’s throat as he swiped his tongue over where he’d bitten his jaw, “We’re young, the senses are heightened, but give us time, Max. I promise I love you, I promise I want to be with you, and I promise I’m not going to fuck you and then leave you. We are mates, okay? But you need to give us a bit of time and stop screaming it all the time, okay?”

“Will you be able to touch me or not?” Max enquired nervously.

“Yeah, in a few weeks probably,” Dan nodded and Max smiled softly, “The only thing I probably won’t let you do is suck me off for a while, it’ll probably be kinda painful for you.”

“You’re not _that_ big,” Max joked, squealing when Dan threw him aside and crawled over him, bracketing the small Omega’s body with own.

Dan’s knees bracketed Max’s hips and he grabbed Max’s wrists, holding them down around his ears.

“Cheeky little Omega, aren’t you?”

“All for you, Alpha,” Max whispered.

Daniel smirked and ducked down, capturing Max’s lips and kissing him hard. 

Their lips lazily moved against each other until Daniel swiped his tongue across Max’s lip and squeezed his wrists to get him to open up. As their tongues slid against each other, Max moaned and rutted upwards, but Daniel kept his legs tight on Max to give him the comfort of his Alpha’s touch without allowing him to brush their hips together. 

“Dan-” Max moaned, “Dan, I’m gonna-“

Dan growled and threw himself off his Omega, moving to stand against a wall and pressed his forehead against the wall as he slammed his fists into it. The rich scent of Max about to cum was filling the room. A pleased Omega. 

“Go to the bathroom, Max.” Dan ordered and Max knew what he had to do as Dan closed his eyes to focus on himself over Max.

Max slipped away quietly and without question. Normally his Omega argued back, questioned things, wanted to know why Dan was telling him to do whatever. To hear him be so naturally submissive felt wrong.

That wasn’t his Maxy.

No

Daniel had put him into a position in which he’d felt threatened by an Alpha’s presence and nearly got him into a position that would’ve been so fucking difficult to get Max back out of.

“Alpha,” Max cooed not too long later, wrapping his arms around Dan’s waist and pressing his face between Dan’s shoulder blades, his scent not so extreme now but Daniel could still smell hints of the rich scent.

“That never should’ve happened,” Dan sighed.

“But you dealt with it; you managed it, you stopped us doing anything because you’re strong,” Max said, kissing the back of his neck, “I’m sorry I did that.”

“It’s not your fault, Max, it’s mine.”

“It’s _our_ fault,” Max corrected as a compromise, tugging at Dan’s hips to try and get him to turn.

When he didn’t, Max spun himself, ducking under Dan’s arms and standing between Dan and the wall, brushing his lips over Dan’s jaw.

“You didn’t let your instincts take over, you’re a good Alpha,” Max cooed, “My Alpha.”

“I shouldn’t have let you-”

“My. Good. Alpha.” Max repeated, pressing open mouth kisses across Dan’s throat.

Dan shakily sighed and brought his arms down now to hold Max, to cradle him close and to know that his Omega was not angry at him. Or, even worse, frightened by him.

“You okay?” Dan whimpered and Max nodded.

“Always. I’m sorry, and don’t say it’s your fault, it’s both of our faults. We’ve literally just had this discussion, didn’t we?”

Daniel sighed and stepped away from the wall, dragging Max back over to the sofa and flopping down. Max instinctively curled up on Dan’s lap, his head resting against the point where he could hear Dan’s heartbeat, his legs over Daniel’s, his arms tied around his waist. 

Max closed his eyes where he settled against Dan, letting out a yawn and nuzzling in tight.

“You tired, baby?” Dan enquired quietly, carding his fingers through Max’s soft hair.

“Hmm,” Max mumbled, “Didn’t sleep very well last night.”

“How come?”

“Too excited to be with you,” Max admitted, his eyes falling shut as his Alpha cared for him.

“You can sleep, baby, I’ll keep you safe, you get some sleep.”

Max fidgeted slightly as he fell asleep, the feeling of his bum rubbing against Dan in a way that should’ve aroused him. 

Max’s phone lit up on the coffee table a little while later where Dan had aimlessly chucked it when Max was upstairs changing. With Max fast asleep, his breathing shallow but heavy, Dan knew he wouldn’t wake anytime soon. Instead, Dan leaned forward, carefully cradling Max to his front and grabbed Max’s phone.

tiny twin   
  
**Today** 17:39   
TEXT DAD HE IS ABOUT TO FREAK THE FUCK OUT   
  


“Fuck,” Dan murmured, shaking Max’s shoulder enough that he groggily opened one eye enough to stare at Dan.

“What?”

“Unlock your phone so I can text your Dad for you.”

“0107,” Max replied instead, closing his eyes and dropping straight back to sleep, ignoring the fear in Dan's voice at the fact that they could be about to get into some deep trouble.

When prompted, Dan typed in the passcode and smiled when he saw Max’s home screen. 

He’d seen Max’s lock screen, the one of Dan’s arms tied around his waist, of course he had. 

But he hadn’t seen this one.

He hadn’t noticed that his boy had it set as them, the one where they’d been caught off guard and not noticed that the camera was still open as Dan sweetly cupped Max’s jaw to kiss him. And seeing the gentle curve of Max’s lips leaning into the kiss made it all worth it.

Except he couldn't focus on that now. He needed to focus on his boy.

He tapped at his messages and was relieved to see that Max text both of his parents in English. He’d been privy to a few phone calls before but hadn’t understood more than a few words of garbled German before Max had put the phone down, and Dan’s German definitely wasn’t good enough to pull off being able to lie through text. And he definitely had absolutely no clue how to write in Finnish. Part of him was still convinced Max wasn't speaking a real language with how confusing it sounded.

Actually, he had no idea how to write ‘I am at Lando’s house’ anyway, so it didn't matter if it was German or Finnish, Dan would be fucked either way.

Good job it was English he needed to type.

Charles had said that it was 'Dad' who was about to freak, and from what he'd picked up, that meant Sebastian. It made sense that he would be the more concerned one, if it was Kimi, Max's Alpha, then there would most likely be an onslaught of texts demanding to know if he was okay. However, it being Sebastian meant that Max probably had slightly more freedom from his lawyer of a father, and he was probably given more trust to be actually at Lando's. 

God Dan hoped so. 

He knew the man was an Omega himself, but Sebastian Vettel _fucking terrified_ Dan, there was something about the fact that this man was so fucking feared by the criminals of London that garnered him all of Dan's respect whilst also scaring the living daylights out of him. And sure, maybe a teenage Alpha should be more cocky, shouldn't be scared of an Omega, but this was _Sebastian Vettel_ okay? Dan was _terrified_. Not just because of his reputation for being such a brilliant lawyer, but also because this was his Maxy's _Dad_ , and if anyone was going to listen to Max, it would be Sebastian, and Dan needed Seb to trust him so that Kimi would. 

The easiest way of getting an Alpha to approve of something was through his Omega, and as long as Sebastian could see that Dan was taking good care of his baby, it would be so much easier for Dan to get the approval that he and Maxy needed to be allowed a future together. 

Dan had a quick scan of how Max normally text his Dad, and then fired off a text of his own, hoping that nothing would appear out of the ordinary.

Dad   
  
**Today** 17:40   
At Lando’s, ordering pizza later, see you Sunday x   
  


Dan watched anxiously as the little grey bubble of ‘typing’ continuously appeared and vanished.

Dad   
  
**Today** 17:40   
At Lando’s, ordering pizza later, see you Sunday x   
  
Excellent, have a good time and see you soon x   
  


Phew

That was one crisis averted.

Next crisis to avert:

Feeding his boy. 

As Max slept, Daniel text Charles, asking what kind of pizza Max preferred before ordering it to arrive in an hour or so. Enough time for Max to sleep and rejuvenate his energy without being so far into the future that he was going to wake up starving and complaining. 

Max still hadn’t woken by the time the doorbell went with their pizza, and no matter how hard Dan tried to push Max off him, he simply wouldn’t move. Instead, he picked Max up, the Omega automatically wrapping his arms and legs around Dan and continuing to sleep through the Alpha carrying him.

“Cheers, mate,” Dan said as he opened the door, the pizza man smiling at the sight of Dan trying to do anything with Max still attached to him. “Sleeping,” he said in explanation.

The pizza man laughed slightly and handed over the order to Dan, wishing him a nice meal before taking his tip and leaving.

“Are you going to wake up, now?” Dan asked, holding the pizza in one hand and his other under Max. 

“No,” Max mumbled, however when he rolled his shoulder and yawned, Dan knew he’d got him. 

“I have pizza,” he told him. 

“Pizza?” Max perked up, opening one eye and smiling at the box in Dan’s hands. 

“I tried waking you up for it but you wouldn’t.”

“You bought pizza?”

“I told you I would.”

“Marry me,” Max said and Daniel simply laughed.

“Not yet, baby, one day I will. But maybe not when you’re half asleep and I’m trying to balance you and pizza, yeah?”

“Eurgh fine I’ll marry the pizza instead,” Max sleepily grinned.

“Sounds perfect, baby, let’s go eat it, yeah?”

Max sat cross legged beside Dan, the pizza balancing on their knees as they watched a random movie on the tv. 

“Where are you going to sleep tonight?” Max quietly asked, nervously fiddling with the bottom of his hoodie.

“Don’t know, maybe here, maybe my room or my sister’s room, it’s your choice where you want to sleep. I’ll just sleep where you’re not.”

“But why can’t we sleep in the same room?” Max’s voice was barely audible, anxious and small.

“Because I don’t want to put you under any pressure, Maxy. If we sleep in different rooms, it just limits the chances of something happening.”

“But what? What would happen?”

“You going into heat.” Dan said blankly, nudging the last slice over to Max. 

“But what if I don’t?”

“But what if you do?”

“I can sleep in the same room as you, Dan, I’m not going to go into heat,” he protested.

Dan shook his head and didn’t say anything more. He wanted Max to sleep in his bed more than anything. And he highly doubted that Max would go into heat. But that wasn’t entirely why Dan was nervous about sleeping with Max.

“But what if I do something to you? I’ve never slept next to an omega before, I don’t want to hurt you.”

Max’s eyes softened and he moved the pizza box away, shuffling up to climb into Dan’s lap and nuzzle his throat. 

“You mean the absolute world to me, Max, and I don’t want to be sleeping next to you and start touching you or doing anything in a way that you’re not okay with. I don’t want to be pressing against you or whatever and freak you out. Twice in the last week we’ve both nearly lost control and I’ve let you get so close to coming because of me. What if that happens when we’re asleep? I don’t want to risk hurting you.”

“Alpha,” Max cooed, settling on him in a way that pressed his bum against Dan’s length, “You are not going to do that, okay? I want you, in all ways. And I trust you. You have never, ever, done something that makes me uncomfortable. I want to cuddle in your bed and fall asleep with your arms around me. If you are really not okay with that, we don’t have to. But please don’t be worried about touching me in a way I’m not okay. I want to feel you, Alpha, and I’m okay with however that is. And you have control, Dan. In those moments, we both got lost in it, we both are to blame for nearly losing control. And you were still able to keep control of yourself and me. I trust you, Dan. And I want to sleep with you in your bed, yeah?”

Dan pulled Max into him, pressing his lips to Max’s temple as he thought about it.

“Promise me that you’ll wake me up or even just push me out of the bed if I’m doing something you’re not okay with?”

Max broke out into a grin as he nodded, diving forward and kissing Daniel hard, their lips melding and tongues tying as Max leant up to press against Dan’s torso.

“I love you,” Max cooed, “And I trust you, okay? I know you wouldn’t do anything intentionally to hurt me or scare me.”

“Promise me, Max.”

Max pressed himself as close as possible and kissed the spot just underneath Dan’s ear as Dan ran his hands up and down the back of Max’s thighs.

“I promise you, Daniel.”

Max curled himself into Daniel, straddling his waist and draping his arms around his neck.

“I want to sleep with you, in every manner. And I think sharing your bed is the perfect way to start, yeah?”

Dan grinned and nodded, tugging Max into a kiss. 

“I love you, angel.”

“Love you too,” Max whispered.

“Now, eat your pizza, watch your movie, and cuddle me because I’ll never get over how good you snuggle me,” Dan murmured, kissing Max’s temple and nuzzling his hair as Max flipped into his side.

“I can’t wait to fall asleep in your arms again,” Max smiled.

“I can’t wait either, my beautiful mate.”

If only it remained that easy.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> :)
> 
> I like this bc I keep implying the angst is gonna happen and it hasn't yet and you're all forever on edge lmao
> 
> kudos, comments, and feedback always greatly appreciated💙
> 
> Tumblr is at 3303andmore :)


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> :)
> 
> enjoy

“Left side or right side?” Daniel asked as they walked into his room, trying to avoid his voice shaking as he also tried to convince himself that getting into his bed with Max couldn’t possibly go wrong. 

He knew every single bit of his heart was convinced that something _would_ go wrong, that he’d accidentally touch Max in a way that he shouldn’t or Max would go into heat and Dan would have to try and ignore him in order to help him. This was probably the stupidest idea he’d had (aside from allowing Max to lie to his parents and sneaking him over to his house and sprinting away from Valtteri every time he saw him in the corridor or casually skipping the Maths class he shared with Valtteri if he’d been with Max beforehand in case he somehow had Max’s scent lingering on him... okay so Dan had had a lot of stupid ideas lately but that’s beside the point), but as he watched Max nervously fiddle with the sleeve of his hoodie that was probably three sizes too big for him and look at Daniel with wide trusting eyes, he knew he couldn’t deny him anything. 

He’d never understood when people said that the pull of your mate led you to do things that you probably disagreed with, but you would do just to make them happy. Dan was a strong and stubborn Alpha, he wouldn’t give in. And yet as he saw Max settle against the pillows on the left side of his bed closest to the windows, he understood it. 

All he wanted was for Max to be happy, and if that meant Max climbing onto his bed, looking every inch the young, inexperienced boy that he was, Daniel would do it. 

He’d do it a million times over if it just meant Max kept that beautiful smile on his face. 

“I like to wake up and see the sun,” Max whispered anxiously, scrunching the blanket up between his fists and looking down at his lap. 

“Cute,” Dan replied, climbing onto the bed on top of the covers and settling back, extending his arm over the pillows as a silent invitation for Max to cuddle against his side. 

Since it seemed the moment Max had walked through the door, Daniel hadn’t taken his hands off of Max. Having him nearby settled his instincts and calmed him, it made him feel less antsy and jittery as the warm scent of his Omega filled him. He couldn’t be on edge if he had Max to keep calm.

Knowing that the physical contact also kept Max calm was the perfect excuse to be able to continue to scrape his fingers over Max’s hair and neck, subtly scenting him whilst also comforting him, making it all the better. 

“I love you, Alpha,” Max murmured, settling against Dan’s side and throwing his leg over Dan’s, pressing up against the Alpha and kissing his covered shoulder. 

“And I love you, my pretty little Omega,” Dan replied, using his fortuitous grip of Max’s hair to tilt his head back and press a gentle kiss to his lips. 

Max had responded far better to being in a bed with him than Dan could possibly have imagined. His scent was still calm, his heartbeat was steady, and he yawned sleepily, snuggling into Dan and nuzzling his throat slightly as he settled down. 

“Are you still sleepy, my love?” Dan asked, playing with Max’s hair.

“Hmm,” Max nodded, his eyes slowly closing as the warmth of a content Alpha lulled him to sleep. 

“You can sleep, baby, but let’s get under the blankets first, okay? I don’t want you getting cold.”

“Can I take my hoodie off?” Max asked, knowing that half the reason why they’d done so well was that their skin-to-skin contact was limited. 

Dan took a deep breath and nodded, climbing off the bed as Max did so to pull the sheets down and give them space to slide under. Max got on first, watching Dan hesitate once he saw Max actually in his bed. 

“I trust you, Alpha,” Max whispered as he rolled to his knees, shuffling forward to Dan’s side of the bed and placing his palms against Dan’s face, tugging him in and rubbing their noses together. 

“And I trust you,” Dan confirmed, carefully pushing Max back to his side of the bed (Dan really loved thinking of it like that no matter how dumb this was) and climbed back in, pulling the duvet over them and the blanket over Max, not wanting his boy to get chilly. He ignored the part of his mind that was screaming that he shouldn’t trust Max.

“You take such good care of me, Alpha,” Max said, cuddling back into his side like he had been a few moments prior and tying his fingers with the hand that was draped over his shoulder. 

“Only the best for you, Maxy.”

Max rubbed clumsily at his eyes and settled down again as Dan turned his TV on to a low volume to give Max the background noise he needed to fall asleep. 

Dan watched a few episodes of some sitcom as Max slept soundly on him. He barely moved in his sleep, content to be wrapped up in his Alpha’s arm and blankets, his scent _fine_. 

Maybe this wasn’t such a bad idea. 

Maybe things were going to be fine. 

And when Daniel turned the tv off and shifted down to nose Max’s hair as he fell asleep too, he didn’t think he’d ever been more content. 

Max hadn’t been lying when he’d said Dan had slept with a lot of people. He was a young, attractive, desirable Alpha and people wanted him. He’d never gone further than just fucking them, always taking precautions and that. And still, the second his eyes had fixed on the pretty little Omega standing awkwardly at the side of his table in the library, his arms nervously folded across his chest as he talked to Dan and then folded himself into the seat opposite (and later beside) Dan, talking through Prokaryotic DNA like it was the most basic concept in the world and not something that Dan had been struggling with for months, explaining it in such a way that Dan understood it without hesitation, he’d fallen for him. 

Max was the sweetest, softest soul in the world.   
And Dan was so fucking in love with him. 

Having Max in his arms, wrapped up in his warmth and their bodies pressed against each other like it was completely normal, no signs of anything _going wrong_ to even be suggested, was it. 

It was just it. 

Perfect.

Was there a better word than perfect? Dan didn’t think so. But that’s what it was. 

It was better than perfect. 

Because it was Max. 

And he adored him with every fibre of his being. 

~

Max was the first one awake the next morning. He was laying on his side facing the window, but still protectively held in Dan’s arms. His back was pressed against Dan’s chest, obviously having shifted in their sleep to Dan spooning him over Dan holding him against his chest. Dan had one arm curled under and around Max’s waist, his hand broad and warm even through Max’s shirt, with his other hand tucked down the inside of Max’s sweats, his fingers pressing against Max’s warm skin and teasing under the leg of his boxer shorts. When it had gotten there, Max had no idea, but it felt _good_. Right, even. And he loved it.

The thick length of his Alpha was pressed against his bum, and yet as much as Max thought about rutting back into him, he found that actually he didn’t care to. He was just happy to be able to feel him and know that when the time came, he would be ready to feel more than a clothed version of his Alpha, but right now, this was enough. It was _more than enough_.

His body had controlled itself and he could only hope Dan was proud. He wanted Dan to be proud of him, something that he wanted to achieve every day, and by being able to show Dan that nothing had happened, that he hadn’t automatically rut against him or put them in a position in which Max was going to go into heat, it only proved that their bodies were becoming used to each other. 

They were true mates. 

The realisation made Max grin and he turned his head to look over his shoulder at his Alpha. Dan’s forehead was pressed into Max’s shoulder blade and so Max simply kissed the top of his messy curls instead as best he could. 

“Love you, Alpha,” Max whispered. 

Dan was still breathing deep behind him, his chest rumbling anytime he fidgeted and their bodies moved against each other, but otherwise he was fast asleep.

Max leant across after a while and carefully unplugged his phone from the bedside table, bringing it across to him and unlocking it. Max tied the fingers of his right hand with Dan’s over his stomach and pulled up his text thread with Charles.

tiny twin   
  
**Today** 10:29   
That was the best night sleep I’ve ever had   
  
alright show off   
  
Genuinely happy for u tho   
  
Gotta ask tho   
  
for purely scientific reasons   
  
how big is his dick   
  
I don’t know!! I told you were waiting for that   
  
Still thought you’d have done it tbh   
  
it’s fucking big I can tell you that, got it pressed against me right now   
  
ARE YOU TEXTING ME AS YOUR BOYFRIEND PREPS YOU FOR SEX   
  
i fucking wish   
  
But no you wanker he is not touching my butt with anything but his clothed dick   
  
We’re cuddling, he’s asleep still tho hence why I’m bugging you   
  
Yoj slept in his bed?   
  
yeah, all night in his arms   
  
lucky little shit   
  
I want thag with Pierre so bad :(   
  
💔💔   
  
You’ll get it one day   
  


“Morning baby,” Dan grumbled, scraping his teeth over Max’s shoulder as he arched his back and unconsciously pressed his hips harder into Max.

“Morning, Alpha,” Max replied, locking his phone and throwing it somewhere on the bed as he turned in Dan’s arms. 

Dan was rubbing his face into the pillow as he yawned and tried to wake up properly and Max couldn’t help the fond smile at his sleepy Alpha.

“You been awake long?” Dan asked.

“Maybe like twenty minutes,” Max told him. 

“Should’ve woke me, I’m sorry.”

“No it’s fine honestly, I was texting Charles anyway.”

“He alright?”

“Yeah, just told him I’m alright and that. He asked me how big your dick is.”

“Hope you said fuckin’ massive,” Dan cheeked and Max playfully shrugged.

“Said that I wouldn’t know, it’s pressed against me but I can’t feel shit so must be tiny.”

“Cheeky little bastard,” Dan grumbled, rolling them so that Max was laying on top of him and he could squeeze Max’s bum.

“Nah I’m joking, said ‘fucking big’ if you really wanna know.”

“Such a dirty little mouth on you, isn’t it?” Dan said as Max wiped the corner of Dan’s eye.

“Think that’s your influence, Alpha.”

“Yeah? I’m making you a dirty little boy, am I?”

“Obviously, no one else could ever make me feel like you do,” Max leant down and held Dan’s jaw as he kissed him, sleepily exchanging brief kisses.

They were more quick presses of lips against the other, before Max pulled away to rub their noses against each other and press their foreheads together.

“Love you, Alpha.”

“Love you, Mate,” Dan grinned, looking at the way Max’s eyes automatically closed as he snuggled into Dan’s embrace. 

“Can’t wait until we can do this every day,” Dan said and Max broke out into a wide grin.

“Me neither.”

Dan hugged Max’s back tighter, pressing them as close as possible as he mouthed over Max’s neck, leaving his scent there.

“Can’t wait till I can put my mark on you,” Dan smirked, lightly grazing his teeth over the spot as Max moaned and bared his neck as best he could, “Gonna look so fucking pretty, claiming you and keeping you all for myself.”

Max tensed slightly in his arms and Dan instantly pulled away.

“What? What’s wrong?”

Max seemed to hesitate, pulling his bottom lip between his teeth when it started to tremble.

“I’ll still be allowed my freedom, right?” He gently asked.

Dan went wide eyed.

“What do you mean?”

“You’re not going to stop me seeing my family, right? I can still be normal?”

Dan sighed and dropped his head back onto the pillow, looking back up at his nervous boyfriend.

“Yeah, of course, Max, I didn’t mean I was going to keep you by my side or at home watching pups or whatever all the time. I just meant being able to mark you and have people know that you’re my mate.”

“Okay, sorry, sorry I-”

“Was scared I was going to stop you seeing your brother and dads.”

Max nodded nervously.

Dan worked his hand up from Max’s back to brush his messy bed hair off his face.

“You’ll still have the normal life you have now, I’d never want you to feel oppressed just because you’ve got my mark on your neck. I love you, Max. I want you to be happy and I want you to still have your family.”

“I know,” Max murmured, dropping his head to bury it in Dan’s neck, “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to upset you.”

“Remember yesterday when we had a talk about what this is between us? This qualifies as us still talking about our relationship, okay? We need to know what to expect from each other and if you’re scared about anything, I want you to be able to talk to me, alright?”

“I know, I’m sorry. I’m really sorry, I just panicked because this is what Charles is scared of happening and I don’t want to lose him because he’s my twin and my dads are so important, and Valtteri’s kinda an ass at the minute but he’s stressed and I get it because I know I will be because the A-Levels are obviously a big thing and you’re doing them too so you’re going to get stressed and I’m scared that everyone is going to be mad when they find out about us and expect too much or expect me to change again and I don’t like change and I really like being with you but-”

“Max, baby, calm down, you’re getting yourself worked up, it’s okay but you need to take a breath,” Dan interrupted, slowly working his hand up and down Max’s back to calm him.

Max shakily sighed and curled into Daniel, holding his grip on his hips between his knees tighter and pulling one of Dan’s hands round to squeeze hold off.

“I’m scared of what comes next,” Max murmured, “I don’t want everything to change just because some people are aware that I’m not single anymore. That I have you. You make me so damn happy, and I’ve never slept better than I did last night. What if it all goes wrong with my parents?”

“We have to talk to them, Max, that’s the natural next step, yeah? We know what we have is right, and my parents will be concerned too, but your parents are going to worry more because you’re an Omega. If we work out what we want, what’s important to us and all that, then we can talk to them and hopefully our parents will understand that this is more than just a fling.”

“How do we do that?”

Dan shrugged.

“I have no idea, but I guess being honest is a good start. We’ve got to do what’s right for us, Max, and you’re getting stressed out at lying and the idea of being truthful is stressing you out, so it’s going to be hard either way, but we’ve got to be honest. But maybe don’t tell them that we slept in the same bed. I think your parents might be a bit too angry about that little detail.”

“I wish we didn’t have to deal with all of this.”

“You wouldn’t if you’d have just fallen for a normal Alpha, not an idiot one like me. If you’d have just picked someone that doesn’t have the reputation I do, your parents would be way more understanding.”

“My Dad probably will be. He’ll be angry at me for lying, but he’ll get it. He trusts me to know what I’m doing, that I wouldn’t have started with you if I hadn’t thought through it a million times over. It’s my Isä and Valtteri I’m worried about.”

“Valtteri’s probably going to try and deck me, isn’t he?” Dan said.

“Oh god yeah. He’s going to be so fucking angry. He hates you.”

“I wish I knew why, you know? Whether it’s just because I’m another Alpha or what I have no idea, but he really fucking hates me, doesn’t he?”

“I think he just doesn’t trust you. And he’s my Dads first, so he’s just way too protective of us and when you first smiled at me that time in the corridor, it was before I’d turned 16 so he thought I was still a child like he’s any better than me just because he’s an Alpha. But he’s not. This status bullshit doesn’t mean anything, not really. Not between people like us. You don’t act like a normal Alpha,” Max told him, crawling up Dan slightly to straddle him better and stroke his fingers through his Alpha’s curls, “You’re soft, and gentle. You make me smile and I’ve never been scared of you. Sure, I’ve been scared of disappointing you, but I know you, Dan. You just want me to be happy, and he doesn’t get that.”

“He’s just looking out for you, Max.”

“ _I know_ ,” Max stressed, “It doesn’t mean I can’t be annoyed about it.”

Dan laughed lowly and shook his head fondly at Max. 

“Only you could be annoyed at people looking out for you.”

“Yeah well,” Max shrugged, “None of them are you, are they?”

Dan looked up at him, his hand never slowing from where it had been rubbing up and down Max’s back. 

“You’re something else, Maxy.”

“Is that good or bad?”

“It’s perfect,” Dan told him, pressing their mouths together and licking into his mouth, languidly kissing him like they have all the time in the world and that they could stay right here in this bed until the end of time and it would be okay. 

“Am hungry,” Max murmured as they pulled apart, looking deep into Daniel’s eyes, his heart, his desires. 

“I’ll make you breakfast.”

“Let me make you it,” Max argued, “As a thank you, for everything.”

“Why don’t we make it together?”

“No,” Max smirked, “ _You_ are going to stay right there and not move and I’m going to go and make you breakfast and you’re going to enjoy it.”

Dan shrugged as he laughed, watching Max roll off him and grab a hoodie to wear to protect him against the cold breeze of the morning air. 

“Stay,” Max ordered and Dan held his hands up placatingly. 

As Max sauntered out of his room, Dan stared at his ass, smirking as he thought about how that was all his. 

Of course he was still waiting. 

But being pressed against Max all night led a boy to having some dirty thoughts, and right now he was distracted at thinking how beautiful Max will look when they finally reached a point at which they could think about consummating things. 

Not anytime soon. 

Dan really didn’t want to rush it. 

But Max would look stunning, blissed out underneath Dan and his body stretched to its limit, the only thing keeping Max grounded being Dan’s hands and words. 

And Max would be okay, because it was Max, and he was a stubborn little shit and Dan loved him for it. 

He really couldn’t have asked for a better mate. 

He didn’t think there could be anyone better. 

Max was _Max_.

Dan didn’t even know how to describe that feeling he got deep in his soul at the sight of him. 

It wasn’t even in anticipation of what was to come. Well, there was probably part of it that was _that_. But it was the small things that came with it. 

Mostly, it was that involuntary little smile Max got on his face when he thought no one was watching him and he saw Dan or his brother in the corridor at school, or when Dan bought him a coffee _just because_ , or when Charles went running past him and ruffled his hair to wind him up. 

It was those silly little reminders that he wasn’t alone.

And the little grin he got on his face was so damn perfect, and Dan would do anything to be able to put that smile there more. 

Max was absolutely stunning when he smiled. And Dan loved it. 

Also, he gave _the best hugs_ in the world. 

He wrapped himself around you, his fingers splayed across your back as he huddled into you, pulling his arms around your neck and back and holding you like you was the most important person on the planet. 

And Dan adored him for it. 

“Coffee and breakfast,” Max murmured as he came back in, holding a cup for Dan and a plate in his hands.

“Where’s yours?”

“I already drank my coffee, and I couldn’t be bothered to get out a second plate, so we’re sharing a plate,” Max grinned, passing it to Dan so he could climb back into bed. 

“What have you made?”

“It’s this thing we had in Holland once, it’s pancakes but better,” Max told him, carving a piece of pancake out and holding it out to Dan.

Dan stared at Max before opening his mouth and biting it off the fork. 

“Is that apple?” Dan asked, frowning slightly as he ate it.

“Yep.”

“And bacon?”

“Aye.”

“You put apple with bacon…”

“Yep.”

“Why is that the best thing I’ve ever tasted, oh my god?!” Dan murmured, picking up the pancake and ripping it apart with his fingers, no manners as he ate it happily. Max flushed under the praise, and shrugged.

“You like it?”

“It’s so fucking good Max, holy shit.”

“Charles had a hangover not too long ago, and he polished off about twelve of these in ten minutes, he swears they’re magic,” Max said.

“Your brother is on to something there, Jesus Christ Max I could keep you for the rest of our lives just so you’ll make me these every day.”

“I can tell you how to make them, they’re not hard.”

“It wouldn’t be the same,” Dan whined, “Because they’re not made with the love of my beautiful boyfriend.”

“You’re so dramatic,” Max sighed. The small smile on his face contradicted any actual disappointment or frustration.

“Well yeah, I’m your boyfriend. I have to be dramatic.”

“How does that work out?”

“No idea, just seems right,” Dan grinned, tugging Max in to another kiss, chasing the taste of apple and bacon on his lips. 

“You’re such an idiot,” Max said, shoving more pancake into Dan’s mouth.

“Am your idiot,” Dan said around the pancake.

“And such a child! Eat with your mouth closed.”

“You’ll be a good Dad,” Dan said without thinking, too busy focusing on his pancake.

Max stopped for a moment before quietly asking, 

“You want to have kids?”

“One day yeah, it’d be nice. Why, do you not?”

“Yeah, I think I want them. Not for a long time though.”

“God no,” Dan agreed, releasing his breath that he’d held in anticipation, “I mean if something happened and I ended up becoming a Dad like now, kinda thing, I would step up to the plate and all that, like I would never be some deadbeat Dad who doesn’t care for their kids just because I’m young. But I don’t want kids for a _while_ preferably.”

“Me too,” Max nodded, curling his arm around Dan’s waist, “I’d like a family with you one day.”

“Sounds perfect,” Dan kissed Max’s mop of hair, smiling as he thought about the idea of a small army of children running around the house, their bright laughter and shining eyes filling the crevice of his heart that wanted them.

“But school first, and uni. And a job. And I want to get married before I have a family.”

“I’ll give you the most perfect wedding on the planet, baby boy, don’t you worry.”

“Not for a while though,” Max reminded him, “We’ve only been a thing for a couple of months, we don’t need to be having all of that yet, yeah?”

“Agreed.”

“Now eat your pancakes and let me cuddle you,” Max told him as Dan wrapped his free arm around Max’s shoulders and pulled him in. 

“Gonna stay here all day,” Dan confirmed, “Nothing better than having you in my arms.”

“Can we have a nap this afternoon?”

“You still tired?”

Max nodded as he rubbed at his eyes.

“I slept amazingly. Think it’s just everything else catching up to me. I’ve not slept great the past few weeks because I’ve been worrying about everything else and with school and my Dads, I’m so exhausted.”

“We can have a nap baby,” Dan nodded, “If that’s what you want. This weekend is just us getting to spend time together, and if you want to nap and cuddle and watch bad romcoms on Netflix, we can do that.”

“I reckon we should find the worst rated romcom and watch that,” Max said causing Dan to laugh.

“You seriously want to die of some cringe-attack?”

“Oh to die in your arms would be such a heavenly way to die,” Max whispered, kissing the underside of Dan’s jaw.

“No dying. I’m not explaining to your brother that it was a shit romcom that killed either of us. I anticipate being murdered by either your brother or your father as my death, and I highly anticipate that one day your twin brother is going to do something that gets you two killed, and I think that’s a more acceptable death than dying because of a shit movie.”

“Okay yeah you’re probably right,” Max laughed.

Dan pulled his phone across and started googling to find what one of the worst romcoms on Netflix was and they ended up settling on a movie that they both agreed sounded horrific. 

“Imagine kissing your brother’s best friend, like ew,” Max cringed as the movie played, both of them frowning and mock-gagging at how cliché and horrific the movie was within even the first ten minutes of it starting. 

“Who even would you kiss if that was the case?”

“I’d have to kiss _Charlotte_ ,” Max grimaced, “A _girl_.”

“You’re so gay it’s adorable,” Dan laughed.

“Well I thought I’d say Charlotte because then you can’t get jealous.”

“Why would I get jealous?”

“Well,” Max said, climbing into Daniel’s lap, the movie playing behind him as he kissed up Dan’s neck, Dan’s hands resting heavily on his hips as he watched the cheeky grin befall Max’s lips, “My other brother’s best friend is _Lewis Hamilton_.”

Dan grabbed Max and pulled him down into a searing kiss, pressing their mouths together hard and causing Max to moan and buck his hips at the display of dominance. 

As Dan pulled away, Max sucked in much needed breaths, whilst Dan bit a mark to the underside of Max’s jaw, hidden if you weren’t looking, and hissing the word ‘mine’ into his skin. 

“Yours, Alpha,” Max whimpered, screwing his face up as the desire to circle his hips down into Dan’s becoming overwhelming, “Dan, Dan stop, Dan stop.”

Dan pulled away instantly, dropping his hands and letting Max climb off him. 

“You was close.” Dan said without preamble.

“No, but I wanted to, and I’m trying to respect what we talked about and not try and get off on you just because we’re in a moment. I could’ve so easily tapped in to your possessive side and got off on you without you noticing, couldn’t I?” 

“Yeah, you really could have.”

“But you want to wait, and I do too. So let’s wait. And instead, we’re going to watch the end of this shitty movie and make out like the teenagers we are and cuddle.”

“And then nap.”

“And then nap,” Max agreed. 

“You’re such a good boy,” Dan said as Max curled tentatively back into his side, “Taking such good care of me and of yourself.”

“Want to be good for you, Alpha.” Max looked up at Daniel with wide eyes, hope shining through that he’d pleased him. 

“You are so good, Max,” Dan rumbled, kissing Max’s neck, “Such a good boy. I’m so proud of you.”

Max cooed at him, baring his neck so Dan could reach more of the milky skin. 

“Such a perfect boy,” Dan repeated.

“All for you, Danny,” Max whispered.

“All for me.”

The rest of the morning into the afternoon was spent with watching more shitty romcoms on Netflix until Max convinced Dan that they’d suffered enough and that they should watch more episodes of a baking competition just so that they could complain about the ideas and ingredients the contestants were including. 

They even ended up arguing at one point over which of the couples on the show should’ve been sent home first, with Max winning the argument simply because he looked at Dan with a sad expression as he woefully agreed that Dan was right. Dan couldn’t bear to see that look of sadness across his boy’s face and quickly swapped to agree with Max that the right couple left the competition first, explaining why their cupcakes were worse than the one’s Dan had chosen. Upon Dan agreeing, Max’s face lit up and he got a slightly evil smile across his lips, and Dan had simply rolled his eyes and pinched Max’s hips, causing his boy to giggle at him and playfully swat him. 

After a few episodes, Max’s breathing had evened out again and he was fast asleep on Dan, his hand pressing over Dan’s heartbeat to soothe him to sleep.

It took Dan a while longer to fall asleep too, watching some more of that sitcom he’d watched last night until he joined Max in the realm of sleep, their heads pressed against each other in their slumber. 

As he slept, he dreamt about the day that his parents got to meet Max. Max would clutch nervously onto his hand, his palm getting sweaty as he said his hellos in the way that it always did when Max was nervous. And his parents would instantly fall in love with him because it was _Max_ , he was impossible to not fall in love with. Every part of Max was perfect, right down to his heart and soul. The purest, most sacred part of him. 

Dan only woke because he felt Max getting up, unconsciously tightening his hold of him to keep him safe.

“I’m just going to pee,” Max told him, kissing Dan briefly before Dan let go of him and he was able to clamber over to head into the bathroom. Dan looked over at the clock and saw that they’d slept for a couple of hours, his TV having turned itself off in its inactivity. 

Max’s phone started vibrating on the opposite side of the bed as Daniel stretched, yawning and trying to get the kinks out of his back from falling asleep almost completely sitting up and simultaneously being pinned down by the dead weight of his sleepy boyfriend.

He looked over but couldn’t read who was calling him, banking on it most likely being Charles calling to wind Max up and complain about being bored now that he didn’t have his brother nearby. 

Whoever it was, however, was persistent, as the second that the call cut, there was a flurry of text messages and his phone rang again. 

It cut off before Max got back and Dan was just about to reach over and find out what was happening when Max returned. Dan held the blankets up and Max slid back him. 

“Your phone has been going crazy,” Dan smiled as Max flopped onto him, welcoming him back into the blanket cocoon.

“What? Why?”

“Dunno, just kept lighting up with texts and someone rang you, but I was too comfy to move and see who it was.”

“You lazy ass little shit.”

“And that’s why I’m the best,” Dan grinned. 

Max sighed but didn’t fight him, reaching over to the bedside table, snuggling into Dan’s chest before he pressed at the screen to waken it.

Immediately he froze at the simple text at the top, his body going tense at whatever he’d read.

“What’s wrong?” Dan asked instantly, his protective instincts causing him to cradle Max tighter against him.

Max turned his phone and looked at Dan with fearful eyes.

tiny twin   
  
**Today** 16:08   
Don’t answer your phone. They know   
  


“Fuck...” Dan whispered.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> :D
> 
> lmao
> 
> Kudos, comments and feedback always greatly appreciated💙
> 
> Tumblr is at 3303andmore if you want to yell at me for finally bringing the angst and making you wait until tomorrow to see what happens


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> lmao
> 
> well this do be it
> 
> I've broken all your hearts, it's just time to see if I continue to make you all hate me hahaha
> 
> seriously tho, I hope you enjoy :)

“Fuck, Dan, what do we do?” Max whimpered, tears dropping fast as he looked between where his phone was lighting up with ‘Dad’ across the screen and Dan’s eyes worriedly. 

“It’s your call,” Dan replied, trying to appear confident but even he was faltering. 

“No, tell me what to do Alpha.”

“I-I can’t, I can’t. I need you to make your own decision. If I answer your phone or if I tell you to answer it, your Dad is going to know what’s up.”

“But why do they know? How?”

“I don’t know baby, I really don’t. But, you’ve got two options. Follow Charles’ advice and don’t answer the phone, or answer it and be prepared for your Dad to scream at you.”

“I can’t,” Max cried falling into Dan’s chest, “I can’t do that.”

“They’re going to be mad, Max. They’re going to be so mad.”

Dan sighed as he cuddled Max into his chest, unsure what to do as there was a flurry of texts again. He grabbed Max’s phone out of his hand, watching the texts fly in on his screen.

Dad   
  
You better answer your phone right now   
  


Valtteri   
  
You stupid kid   
  
Answer your fucking phone   
  
I swear to God I’m going to kill the pair of you for being stupid enough to do this. Ricciardo is a fucking whore who doesn’t give a shit about you. He wants to get in your pants and that’s it. Do you think you’re fucking special?   
  
You stupid fucking child   
  
I should’ve know the second that I saw you with Ricciardo on Tuesday that you was going to pull this shit. I thought you weren’t stupid enough to do this but you fucking are.   
  


tiny twin   
  
Dad is losing his mind. Isä wants to kill you. Valtteri is digging your fucking graves   
  
Seriously don’t answer your phone   
  
Also it was Val that ratted u out, he saw u with Dan the other day and he went in your room earlier to get ur washing and saw Dan’s bio book on your desk and could smell someone’s scent on your hoodie and saw our texts about u being with ur bf, put 2&2 together and fucking figured it out   
  


Isä   
  
Max Emilian Räikkönen-Vettel answer your phone   
  


tiny twin   
  
I’m going to talk to Dads, just stay with Dan   
  
It’s going to be okay Max. Don’t worry   
  
I’m going to sort this, I’ve got it, please, just don’t leave Dan’s side because Valtteri will rip your fucking head off your shoulders   
  


Dad   
  
Don’t listen to Charles. Answer your phone now.   
  
I’m serious Max, you are in so much trouble right now  
  
What possessed you to be so fucking stupid   
  
I’m calling you now, you better answer   
  


When the phone rang again, Max was still sobbing into Dan’s chest and Dan screwed his eyes shut. 

He’d made a promise to keep Max safe. 

He’d made a promise to make Max smile. 

And as his Alpha and his Mate, it was Dan’s _job_ to protect Max.

God this was a terrible idea.

“Hello?” Dan murmured as he answered the phone.

There was a moments pause in which Dan genuinely wondered if you could be murdered through a telephone call.

 _“You’re not my son.”_ came the harsh reply. 

“My name is Daniel, Daniel Ricciardo. I’m-”

_“I know who you are.”_

“Then you’ll know I have your son with me. Max currently cannot answer the phone.”

_“I swear to God if you hurt him Ricciardo-”_

“He’s crying, Sir. He’s completely incoherent. He’s freaking out and I need to take care of him and so I ask you to tell me what it is you want so I can look after my boyfriend.” 

_“Get your hands off my son.”_

“Sir, I’m not touching him other than hugging him as he cries. We are both completely clothed and the only exposed bits of skin are our hands and necks and faces. He is safe, but I need to calm him down, please Sir. What do you want?”

_“Bring my son home, Ricciardo.”_

“I’m not going to do that,” Dan whispered, cutting off Sebastian as he started to argue, “I will. But not right now. He’s struggling to get himself under control and if I return him to you tonight he’s going to have the biggest panic attack of his life. I want him to stay at my house for one last night and then I shall bring him back tomorrow morning by lunchtime. I will not touch him other than to calm him down. I just want Max to be safe, Mr Vettel, _please_. I know you don’t trust me but I love him, and I’m trying to look after him and I want to keep him safe.”

There was a beat of silence where Dan held his breath, not realising that Max was staring at him in anticipation, having heard everything Dan had said himself and also parts of his father’s words. Dan’s voice rumbling as he’d talk had calmed Max, the spot in his brain and heart that was reserved for Dan reminding him that he needn’t worry because his Alpha would keep him safe. 

Always. 

_“Lunchtime. That’s all you get. And if he comes back with a single mark on him-”_

“There will be a mark just under his jawline on the right-hand side of his face. I left a hickey there this morning when we were joking around.” Dan told him, knowing that if he didn’t admit it, when Max’s parents saw it they’d lose their fucking minds. 

God Sebastian was so fucking terrifying. He’d never heard anger quite like he had from this man, and any fear that he’d already had of the man was just made fifty times worse right now.

 _“Ricciardo.”_ Sebastian growled menacingly.

“I know, Sir. I shouldn’t have done it, but we were joking around about something and I did it without thinking when I was winding Max up. It’s not near the juncture and I did it with his consent. I promise, Sir. I’ve not done anything to Max other than cuddle him and kiss him.”

_“You’re really pushing it Ricciardo.”_

“I know, Sir. It’s my fault. But this is a conversation I’d rather have with you in person. I will bring Max home by lunchtime tomorrow and we can talk, is that okay?”

_“If you’re even a second late, Daniel, do not think that I won’t have you arrested for underage coercion.”_

Dan knew that there was nothing the law could do against him. Max and he were both seventeen, within a few months of each other in age, and of the legal age to have made the decision to mate if they’d so desired. Max did not have to be bound the law could be sure that his Alpha and he had made their choices whilst both of them were still coherent 

But it wasn’t about what the law could do to Dan, he knew that. 

It was a display of power on Sebastian’s behalf, showing Daniel the lengths he’d go to in order to protect his son from the big bad evil in the world. 

“Yes Sir, I completely understand. I will see you tomorrow.”

_“Put my son on, Ricciardo.”_

Max shook his head but Daniel just smiled encouragingly, holding the phone delicately to Max’s ear, knowing it was more than important that Sebastian be able to hear Max’s voice and know that he was okay. 

“Dad?” Max whispered, his voice barely audible.

_“Did he touch you?”_

“No, Dad, he didn’t.” Max said, his voice heavy with emotion. “He doesn’t do anything to me.”

_“You are in so much trouble.”_

“I know.”

_“We’ll talk tomorrow, Max.”_

The phone was put down after that, not even a ‘goodbye’, a ‘stay safe’, an ‘I love you kid’. 

Just pure anger.

“I’m so sorry,” Dan whispered, “I should’ve known this would happen.”

“You can’t anticipate this happening,” Max said, pushing up to cradle Dan’s jaw in his hands as a tear escaped his dark eyes. “We both made this decision, I _pushed you_ to make this decision to let me stay. It’s _our fault_ , Dan, and we’re going to show them that together.”

They had matching tear tracks streaming down their faces as Max pressed their mouths together, needing the comfort of his Alpha in its purest form. 

“Please, Alpha,” Max whimpered, climbing into his lap. 

“What do you want me to do?” Dan replied.

“Just hold me.”

“That I can do.” Dan pulled Max into him and curled his arms around Max’s back, holding him tight against his chest as though he was protecting him from the demons to come. 

“It’s not going to end well, is it?” Max whispered after a little while of them sitting in silence and just holding each other.

“No, darling, it probably won’t.”

Max’s tears were wetting Dan’s t-shirt, leaving a dark and what should’ve been uncomfortable patch against the grey material. 

Except Dan couldn’t find it in him to care. 

All he cared about now was keeping his boy safe, and holding him until the end of time if that’s what Max needed. 

He needed comfort. 

He needed a reminder that he wasn’t alone. 

And he needed someone to show him that even if it went to shit, he still had a home.

Even if Dan was 95% sure that he was going to be murdered before anything else could happen. 

~

Max slept restlessly that night, startling himself awake more often than not before cuddling back in to Dan’s chest, wrapping the Alpha’s arm around him tighter and drawing patterns across his covered torso. A few times that Max woke up, Daniel was already awake himself, staring into the distance and hugging Max slightly tighter each time. 

They were both awake by 5:30, neither being able to sleep for more than a couple of minutes with all the aimless thoughts running through their heads. 

“I need to go and get some of this energy out,” Dan told him, dragging himself out of bed, “Let’s go for a run.”

“No,” Max protested as Dan took hold of his hands, tugging him up.

Dan reached into the drawer and grabbed some running clothes out for himself and some for Max, passing them to him before he wandered off to the bathroom to change. 

Max changed quietly in Dan’s room, tugging on the shorts and long sleeve t-shirt that Daniel had given him, along with some socks. 

“Ready?” Dan murmured, coming back into his room and throwing his dirty laundry into the washbasket. 

Max nodded and tucked his hand alongside Dan’s, holding it as they went downstairs to get their trainers on. 

“I’m just going to get us some water,” Dan said, kissing Max’s cheek in reassurance. 

They were both in quieter moods this morning, Dan smiling less but trying to make sure he was keeping up the physical affection as much as he tried to not stress Max out with knowing that Dan would be returning Max to his parents’ home and he’d stink of the wrong Alpha. 

They’d planned that Max was going to shower before he left Dan’s, washing himself with Charles’ body wash and putting on one of Valtteri’s jumpers so that he was completely unconnected to Dan once he left Dan’s house. And as much as Dan didn’t like it, Max was supposed to have been getting the bus back home to limit the chances of Dan’s scent becoming noticeable on Max. 

Except now that they knew, there was no point. 

Dan would simply drive them home instead. 

And Max would huddle himself into Dan because he was scared and needed reassurance, and Dan would unconsciously press his hands over Max to give him the sanctity he needed. So whilst the transference of scent wouldn’t be as extreme, it was still going to be there, still happening on Max’s skin and clothes. 

God Dan was walking Max into almost certain danger, and he had no idea what he was doing. 

If he was a lesser man, he’d leave Max to it himself. To suffer at the pit of the vipers and pretend he’d seen nothing. However, his Mama had raised him to be a gentleman and he couldn’t leave Max alone with them. Not only because he couldn’t trust them to not hurt him, but also because he couldn’t trust them to let Max speak his mind. 

The run was quiet. Max content to run by Dan’s side and follow him through a nature trail not far from his house to run up to a peak so they could sit on the cold wet morning dew covered grass and Max could cuddle into Dan’s side, trading the bottle of water between them as they watched the sun rise. 

“What do you think’s going to happen?” Max asked, his arm around Dan’s waist and his head on his shoulder. 

“I really have no idea,” Dan shrugged, “I wish I knew. But I don’t. The chances of them banning us from each other is extremely high, Max.” Dan chose to warn him. 

“I know. I don’t want to think about that. I just want us to be okay.”

“We will be. I’ll find a way, Max, they can’t stop me from loving you. I’ll find a way to keep us together.”

“What if they move me schools?”

“I’m sure I can teach you how to sneak out.”

“What if they move us country…?”

“Do you think they honestly would?”

“I have no idea what they would do to keep us apart,” Max shrugged.

“If they do, I’ll come see you. I’ll bring you over here. We’ll find a way, Max. I won’t let people stop us being happy.”

“This is such a fucking mess,” Max sighed.

“I know,” Dan kissed Max’s hair, “I know, baby.”

There was nothing more either of them could say. They were both angry, both scared, both frustrated. But they’d anticipated that.   
They’d known the risks and they still tried because _they loved each other_.

Fuck whatever Max’s parents said. 

They loved each other. 

And when Dan drove Max home later on, he’d remind him of that. Remind him that no matter what, they had each other. 

They had a home in each other’s hearts. 

~

The drive home was tense. 

Max was biting at the skin around his knuckles until Dan took his hand away, linking their fingers together to calm him slightly. And when they pulled up outside Max’s house, Dan undid Max’s seatbelt and dragged him across into Dan’s lap, holding him close for what could be the final time and pressing reassuring kisses to his cheek. 

“We’re going to be okay. We’ve got each other, alright?”

Max nodded shakily and pressed a light kiss to Dan’s lips before sliding back into his own seat.   
They looked out of the windscreen and saw Max’s Dads stood on the doorstep, staring at them both, with only Sebastian’s fingers around Kimi’s wrist keeping him from storming to the car and dragging Max out of it. 

“Are you ready?”

“No,” Max admitted, looking nervously at Dan.

“Me neither, so let’s do this.”

Dan climbed out first, giving Max a moment to collect himself and going into the backseat to grab Max’s belongings. He was wearing one of Dan’s jumpers despite Dan’s protests, and when Dan picked up Max’s backpack, he saw another one had been sneaked in alongside his own possessions. 

Damn his boy really hadn’t been kidding about stealing all of Dan’s hoodies. 

He shouldered Max’s bag, folded his coat over his arm, and walked around to the passenger side, opening it and offering Max his hand to help him out. 

Or rather, to give him the confidence he needed to get out of the car. 

“Do we have to do this?”

“Your Dads are burning a hole in me with how hard they’re staring at me, so yes, baby, we need to do this.”

Max sighed and dropped his hand into Dan’s, climbing out of the car and shutting the door behind him. 

For a moment, neither Max nor his parents moved, both staring at each other. Max was shaking beside him, and Daniel slowly swiped his thumb over Max’s knuckles, the best he could do to comfort him without tugging him into him and kissing him to distract him. 

Somehow, he doubted that would go down well with Max’s parents. 

Kimi was the first to break, scoffing and walking back into the house whilst Sebastian continued to stare at them. 

“Come on, baby,” Dan murmured, pulling Max toward the house.   
Sebastian turned and walked in himself as Max and Dan started to make their way up the driveway, heading into the house and probably going to find Kimi to be sure that he was calm enough to meet the new Alpha in his den. 

Charles was sat on the stairs as Max and Dan walked in, offering them both a comforting and supportive smile when Dan dropped Max’s belongings onto the floor. 

At least someone supported them. 

Valtteri most definitely did not. 

As soon as Max walked into the house with his fingers tied with Dan’s, Valtteri growled and stormed from his spot off the kitchen counter, practically throwing himself at Dan. 

Daniel barely had chance to push Max out of the way and behind him where he was safe as Valtteri’s fist connected with his cheek. Daniel’s head snapped to the side and he growled aggressively back, shoving Valtteri away from near Max when he saw the pure fury in the slightly younger Alpha’s eyes. 

The next few moments happened in an almost blur, Daniel punching Valtteri when he reached out for Max, Valtteri punching Dan’s face again, Dan catching Valtteri’s torso with a few sharp jabs, Valtteri grabbing Dan’s wrist and trying to twist it, Daniel fighting back until Valtteri was almost snapping his wrist when a shrill-

“STOP IT!”

Cut through the air 

Max was diving between them without hesitation to take the brunt of Valtteri’s anger instead of Dan. 

Max was able to shove Valtteri away and Charles grabbed him, dragging their brother into the living room and not letting his brother near the couple.

“Fuck, Dan,” Max whimpered, turning around and curling into his embrace, terrified and sobbing at the rapid turn of events. 

“I am so sorry, Maxy, I’m so sorry,” Dan whispered, his broad arms curling around Max’s shoulders and waist as he hugged him against his front. He tried to press soothing kisses to Max’s hair, but had to pull away when Max’s hair kept getting caught on the blood pouring from his lip and eyebrow.

Max was sobbing loudly, clutching onto Daniel’s shirt and refusing to let go. 

They’d both known this was likely to end badly, but neither of them had anticipated they’d barely even get in the door before Valtteri was trying to murder Dan. 

Sebastian tried to approach and Dan automatically twisted them, putting more distance between Max and his father to keep him safe. He growled in warning, but the tone was fearful, as though he was begging Sebastian to not come near Max because he was trying to protect him. 

“Dan, the blood,” Charles whispered, Valtteri’s voice loud in the other room as he argued with Kimi about ‘going back out there and killing that lowlife little bastard!’, reminding Dan that he was in another pack’s den.

And he didn’t know what to do.

He gave Charles a look that said as much, and Charles nodded. 

“Max,” Charles tried instead, putting all his authority into his voice as he said, “Your Alpha needs you.”

Max tensed and looked up at Dan with red eyes, matching red tear stains down his face and his lips raw from where he’d been biting at them to hold in sobs.

“I need to clean you up,” Max whispered, pulling away from Dan to grab his hands.

“Max-” 

“Let me,” he whimpered and Dan nodded, allowing Max to pull on his hands and go through to the kitchen. 

Max’s dad watched them as Max grabbed kitchen towel and wet it under the sink. Quickly, Max wiped at his own eyes as he jumped onto the kitchen counter before tugging Daniel to stand between his knees. 

Sebastian stood to the side, keeping somewhat of a distance between them but watching intently until Kimi joined his side, Charles now left with the task of calming Valtteri down. 

Kimi growled at the sight that met him of his son with his legs around an Alpha. Dan deliberately kept his hands behind his back in order that Max’s parents could see he wasn’t touching Max, hoping beyond all hell that it would be enough to placate Max’s parents and they didn’t just rip his head off his shoulders. 

Carefully, Max dabbed at the cuts on Dan’s lip and eyebrow and Dan made sure to not wince but instead keep his fixed eyes on Max, both to ground Max and also to remind himself why he was doing this.

“Are you hurting?” Max asked.

“Never at your hands, baby,” Dan promised.

Max nodded and leant forward to press a kiss to Dan’s cheek.

“Max Emilian,” his father warned, his voice rough as he tried not to growl at Dan.

“Dad please..” Max whispered, looking over Dan’s shoulder at them.

“Shall I go?” Dan quietly checked.

“No!” Max protested, dragging Dan forward and wrapping himself around him.

Dan frowned at Max’s clinginess.

Something was off.

Yes he was always like this...

But something was different...

This wasn’t just fear...

“Max, get off Ricciardo.”

“No.”

“Max, get off him.”

“No!”

“Max I won’t tell you again!”

“He’s my fucking mate!” Max growled, baring his teeth at them. 

“Oh fuck…” Dan sighed, “Mr Vettel, could you call for Charles please?”

Max was scraping his teeth over Dan’s neck as he glared at his parents, trying to push himself tighter into Dan whilst still cradling his bloody face. 

“I’m not doing shit for you, Ricciardo.”

“Mr Vettel-”

“Get your hands off my son.”

“I’m not fucking touching him!” Dan protested, his tone gradually turning from frustration to begging fear, “He’s practically climbing me because he’s about to go into a stress induced heat and I can’t be here when that happens. I need to leave so that he can get through this without having the presence of his fucking mate making it fifty times worse. He needs his brother and he needs me to fucking leave, so please, I’m begging you, for his sake, get his fucking brother!”

Max was starting to whine as he realised what Dan was saying, clutching harder onto Daniel’s shoulders to the point that Dan was sure he’d have bruises tomorrow. 

“Max, baby, let go of me, let go, it’s okay, just let go,” Daniel cooed, trying to keep his hands and arms away from Max whilst also convincing him to untie himself from Dan’s body. 

“I can’t,” Max whimpered, rutting forward, “They’ll hurt me, keep me safe, Alpha, keep me safe, don’t let them hurt me, Alpha.”

“They’re not going to hurt you baby boy, but you need to let go so _I_ don’t hurt you.”

“Want your knot, Alpha,” Max sighed, baring his neck to try and get Dan to mark him.

“Max get off him,” Kimi’s voice inputted, causing Max to whimper at the conflicting Alpha voices, even though they were both wanting him to do the same thing that he so desperately disagreed with. 

“Max, please, let go of me, you’re only hurting yourself.”

“Want you to fuck me, make me scream, Alpha, mate me,” Max whimpered, his hands now coming down to grab at Dan’s arms and pull at them, trying to get them anywhere near his body instead of still folded behind his back.

“I can’t, Max, you know I can’t.”

“Dan,” Charles said, stepping up beside Dan and being careful not to touch him considering the state Max was in, knowing it was more than likely that Max would see Charles as a threat and try to fight him away from his mate, “I’m here.”

Dan sighed in relief and continued trying to step back as Charles tugged at Max’s legs to release Dan.

“Please, Alpha, need you,” Max was a sweaty and mumbling mess and the inside of Daniel’s cheek was getting cut up with how hard he was biting it, blood flooding his mouth as he tried to control his own reactions. 

Max’s scent was getting stronger, still not affecting his family, but Dan was close to losing it. 

This wasn’t how it was meant to go.

“Dan, try moving now,” Charles ordered, but Max still wouldn’t let go, until Kimi grabbed hold of Dan underneath his arms and around his chest, practically yanking him away from Max. It left Max no option but to remove his legs unless he wanted to fall off the counter and smash his head. 

“Thank you,” Dan sighed, as Max started full on sobbing again at being separated from his Alpha.

“Stay there,” Kimi ordered Dan and Dan nodded, moving away to stand in the corner of the kitchen far away from Max as Kimi instead stepped up to Max. 

“Come on you, let’s get you to your room,” Kimi said to Max, lifting him up without hesitation and carrying the teenager upstairs along with Charles following them. The touch of his pack Alpha was enough to calm Max to a point at which his scent wasn’t flooding the room as severely, and yet the sound of his sobs was all it took for Dan to crumple.

Dan sunk to the floor and buried his face in his hands, feeling frustrated tears build up in his eyes.

“You actually care for him,” Sebastian said, almost like he couldn’t believe this Alpha was crying in front of him. 

“Of course I do,” Daniel snapped, “He’s my fucking mate.”

“And you didn’t take advantage of him.”

“I’m not a fucking monster,” Dan’s voice broke as the tears fell, hearing Max’s cries from upstairs and wanting nothing more than to go and pull Max into his arms and comfort him. 

“You really do care about him.”

“Can you stop fucking saying that?! Of course I care about him, he’s Max. He means the fucking world to me. I tried so fucking hard to make him smile all weekend and he did that all of Friday and yesterday until you phoned him. And he’s wasn’t fucking stressed for once, and then this shit happens and I feel so fucking responsible and I hate myself for it.”

Max’s Dad dropped down beside him and pulled Dan into his arms. The young Alpha went rigid at his hold but then melted into him, crying against his chest as everything caught up with him. The comfort of an adult Omega was enough to calm Dan himself, especially as Sebastian cooed at him and brushed his fingers through Dan’s curls, offering comforting to him even though Dan knew all that Sebastian wanted to do was throw Dan out on his ass. 

“I never wanted this to happen,” Daniel sobbed, “I really didn’t. We’ve had so many arguments about having sex and stuff. He’s not ready, I know he’s not and I don’t want to do anything yet, Mr Vettel, I’ve not laid a finger on him I swear, and I still fucking caused all of this.”

“You didn’t mean to cause this Dan, and you dealt with it really well. Any other Alpha’s your age would have gotten over protective and not let Max deal with it the way he needs to. You did the right thing, even if you did the wrong thing in the first place.”

Max’s whimpers were still audible, but lessening now that Charles had probably stuck some suppressants down Max’s throat. 

“I’m so sorry-” Daniel brokenly sobbed, “Please, Mr Vettel, please, don’t take him from. I love him.”

“I need to talk to Kimi-”

“Please, he’s my mate, please don’t stop us seeing each other.”

“I wouldn’t be able to if we tried, Dan, you’re going to still be in the same school. There’s no stopping you from getting to each other.”

“But what-”

“We wouldn’t have allowed Max to stay at your home had we known it was with you. You’re an underage, unsupervised, unmated Alpha, it’s so soon into your relationship, and I know you didn’t do anything to him, but Max lied. And he’s been lying about things for a while, hasn’t he?”

Dan reluctantly nodded. He didn’t _want_ to get his Omega in trouble but he knew Sebastian already knew. Lying would only make things worse.

“Did you encourage him to lie?”

“Not necessarily, just... never exactly stopped him from lying either,” Dan said, wiping at his eyes with the heels of his palms as he looked up at Sebastian.

“Do you understand that we can’t trust you?”

Daniel nodded.

“You and Max won’t be allowed to be on your own for a long time, and if you come over again, you won’t be allowed in his bedroom.”

“I understand,” Dan told him, but his heart was focusing on the words ‘if you come over again’. 

They were going to let him stay near his Maxy.

“Get the fuck out, Ricciardo.” Kimi told him as he came back in, trying to get near Daniel to throw him out except Sebastian curled himself into Dan to protect the Alpha pup. 

Okay maybe they weren’t going to let him stay near his Maxy.

Dan automatically bared his neck in submission to the older Pack Alpha, trying to prove that he wasn’t here as a fight for dominance. He was just here to make his boy smile. 

And with Sebastian wrapped around him, he knew there was at least a tiny element of safety that meant maybe he could keep Max smiling. 

Kimi was a good Alpha. He wouldn’t hurt his Mate. 

One could only hope that that ‘not hurting Mates’ extended to the seventeen year old idiot of a child Alpha that his son was dating. 

“Kimi, he’s staying.”

“No he isn’t!” He snarled.

“He’s Max’s mate.”

“He’s a liar!”

“So is Max! They both lied, Kimi. Max isn’t any better or any worse. Yes Dan shouldn’t have let him lie, but they’re _teenagers_. They made a mistake! And Dan tried to do the right thing! You know how fucking stubborn Max is, I can guarantee you, Kimi, he’s the one that would’ve convinced Dan to do what _he_ wants no matter how much Dan told him no. You can’t solely blame Dan when it’s our son that’s responsible for this mess too!” Sebastian climbed to his feet and pushed at Kimi’s chest, moving him away from Dan. 

Dan whimpered when he heard Max’s cries, huddling into himself further and tugging on his curls. Max’s parents were arguing around him, Sebastian agreeing that they did something wrong but knowing how much Dan cared for Max, whilst Kimi was too busy shouting about Dan being scum, Valtteri was still growling in the next room loudly. 

Except Dan couldn’t focus on that.

“Maxy.” He whispered as the flood of his boy’s scent hitting him, barley having time to look up before a body was colliding with his and he had Max trying to get onto his lap, sobbing hard and clutching onto Dan’s shoulders. 

“No, no, Max, get off, get off me, you need to go back to Charles!” Dan tried to push him away, to get Max away from him, to get Max back to where he’d be safe.

“No!” Max screamed as Kimi grabbed hold of him again, around the waist and tugging him away from Dan. “He’s my mate! Get the fuck off me! Get off!”

“Maxy, go back to Charles,” Sebastian cooed at him, trying to run his hands across Max’s neck to calm him however it seemed to have the opposite effect when Max just started screaming instead.

“No!”

Dan screwed his eyes shut and took a deep breath, realising that Max wasn’t going to listen to anyone else.

“Omega. Go to your room.” Dan ordered and Max instantly stopped wiggling at the sharp tone of his Alpha.

Something in Max knew to listen to Dan even in his lax state of mind and he automatically pushed out of Kimi’s grip and started walking off, heading back up the stairs to his bedroom.

“What the fuck did you just do?” Kimi spat, both of the parents rounding on Dan at Max following an order from him with no hesitation. 

“He’s my Mate,” Dan whispered, “He listens to me. I don’t like doing that, I hate it so much, fuck, I didn’t want to do it, please don’t be mad, I’m such a bad person.”

A tear ripped from his eye and worked its way down his cheek.

“I’m so sorry, I’m so sorry,” Dan repeated, “Please don’t be mad at him. He’s in heat, I’m just trying to take care of him, I’m so sorry.”

“Ricciardo-”

“Go to Max, Daniel,” Sebastian interrupted, causing both Kimi and Dan to look sharply at him.

“I can’t,” Dan whimpered even though every fibre of his being was telling him to sprint up to Max, to go and keep him safe and calm him down.

“Yes you can. He needs you. Go to him, kiss his forehead and tell him he’ll be okay, it’ll help him. You’re his Alpha. Just keep it in your pants and DON’T touch him anywhere but his head or his hands.”

“Sebastian-” 

“Shut up, Kimi. Just shut up. He cares about Max. Everyone can see that. And Max is freaking out. He needs his Alpha. I’m not going to fight you on this. My son needs help, and he needs Dan. Daniel, go.”

Daniel sprinted up before anything more could be said, finding Max’s room easily enough. 

“Maxy,” Dan cooed, pushing Max’s door open and ripped his hoodie off instantly, “Here, baby, here.”

“What are you doing?” Charles asked as Dan tentatively stepped into the room.

“You need to stay, but your Dad sent me up. I’m just going to calm him down, and he needs my scent to help calm him. It’s not a full on heat, it’s stress induced so he needs to nest and to be calmed and then he’ll be okay. But I need you to stay so that if he tries to go too far, you can help stop it.”

Charles nodded and took the hoodie from Dan’s outstretched arm, passing it over to Max along with his own hoodie. Max instantly ripped them into his arms and added them to the piles of blankets and pillows that he’d already assembled.

“Dan,” Max cried when he realised what scent was hitting him, reaching out for him and Dan looked to Charles.

“It’s okay, I’m going to stay here.”

Dan dropped to slide behind Max on his bed, inserting himself into the small nest Max had anxiously created.

“You’re doing so good baby, look at how pretty you made your nest, you’re such a good boy,” Dan rumbled, kissing his neck and rubbing his nose over the bite mark he’d left the day before, leaving behind his scent. 

Max’s back arched as he dropped his head back onto Dan’s shoulder, baring his neck further and giving Dan the room he needed to bite down.

“No, Maxy,” Dan gently reminded him, pushing at Max’s head so it was tilted the opposite way and removed the mating spot from his vision, “You focus on my voice, baby, close your eyes and focus on my voice. I’m going to take care of you, okay? I love you so much, Maxy, and you’re doing so good. Such a pretty boy making such a pretty nest. You did such a good job. You make me so proud, my special Omega.”

Max was still crying but he was slowly calming, the smell of his heat not as intense as it started to mix with both Daniel’s normal Alpha scent and the scent of his twin brother. Max’s breath was also slowing as he twisted to lay his head against Dan’s heartbeat.

“You’re not going to take him from me, are you?” Charles asked, his voice hesitant as he looked at the way Daniel was stroking his fingers through Max’s sweaty hair and across his flushed skin, Max’s breath stuttering as he tried to calm down.

“I wouldn’t dream of it,” Dan told him, smiling at the younger twin, “He’s your brother, he’s your family. You’re his family. I just hope that one day I can be a part of it too.”

“You will take care of my brother, won’t you, Daniel?” Charles asked him and Daniel reached out his hand to take Charles’ hand in his briefly. 

“I promise you, I will do everything in my power to continue to make him smile.”

The two of them fell silent, Charles curled on the end of the bed and watching the way that Max clutched onto Dan, his body slowly calming down and his heat reducing. The suppressants combined with the proximity of his Alpha were clearly doing its job. 

“Dan?” Max whispered groggily not too long later, “What- where are we?”

“We’re in your bed, baby, you fell asleep.”

“Why are we in my bed? I thought-”

Max cut off his words and frantically scrambled up, seeing the cuts on Dan’s face were real and weren’t the result of some weird fever dream. 

“Valtteri punched you...” Max whimpered, “My Dads-”

“Sent me to help you. Your Dad, he’s okay with it. He’s mad at you for lying, but he’s not going to stop us being around each other, Maxy. We’re going to be okay, baby.”

“Promise?” Max’s voice was full of hope and his sleepy eyes were looking at Dan with pure fear of potential lies.

“I promise, baby, we’re going to be okay.”

Tears streamed down Max’s face as he twisted up, pulling Dan’s jaw into his hands and kissing him hard. Dan’s hands came to cradle Max’s ribs, running his thumbs over them and smiling into the kiss. 

“We get to be happy?” Max whispered.

“It won’t be that easy, Max.”

Max and Dan broke apart to look at Max’s door. His parents were stood staring at them, and Kimi still looked like he wanted to rip Dan’s hands off his son, but Sebastian was keeping hold off him and Max settled back into Dan’s hold.

“But you’re not going to take him away from me? You will let me be with him?”

“Despite my better judgment, your Father seems to think that he should be allowed to be with you. You are in so much trouble, Max Emilian. Don’t think you’re not. You’re grounded for a month and that includes no going out with Ricciardo, but if this is what you want, and you follow the rules we set out for you both, you can be with him,” Kimi told them.

Dan’s arms tightened around Max’s waist and Max turned back to him, shakily smiling as pressing their lips together.

“We get to be together, Alpha.”

“Yes we do, Maxy,” he replied, hugging Max as hard as he could without hurting him.

“I’m tired, Danny.”

“You can sleep again, Maxy,” Dan cooed, rubbing his nose over Max’s cheek as his hands rubbed his back, slowly calming Max to a point that he could fall asleep again, knowing that his sleepiness was still due to the panic of his stress-heat still coursing through his veins. 

Dan carefully rearranged Max so that he was laying more comfortably on his side between Dan’s legs, pressed against Dan’s chest and his head tucked under Dan’s chin.

“Sleep, my love, I’ll keep you safe,” Dan whispered before looking up at Max’s parents staring at them and baring his neck to them, “We’ll all keep you safe.”

“I still don’t like you Ricciardo.” Kimi muttered.

“I know, Sir. But we’re putting Max first, yeah?”

“Hm. Don’t fuck it up. You could be good for him, don’t make me regret it.”

“I love him, Sir, I promise. I’m not just here for the sex or anything. I’m here for him.”

Kimi stared at Max as he shuffled around to curl into Dan’s chest, wrapping his arms around Dan and linking their fingers together.

“Love you,” Max sleepily whispered, all inhibitions gone and sweat being wiped across Dan’s t-shirt as he fell deeper into sleep.

“Love you more, baby,” Dan kissed Max’s crown and smiled as Max nuzzled into him.

“Charles, stay with them. Keep your eye on Ricciardo and don’t let him touch your brother up. Lunch will be ready in an hour or so,” Sebastian told him, coming into the room and kissing Max’s forehead and running his hand over Dan’s hair too. “Take care of my pup.”

“I will, Mr Vettel,” Dan nodded, close to falling asleep himself but not closing his eyes whilst Max’s parents were still around.

“Right, I’m going to go and calm your older brother down,” Seb told Charles and causing the youngest Räikkönen-Vettel to wince.

“Glad that’s on you, I get to watch Dan and Max sleep for an hour instead.”

“If I didn’t think your Dad would kill me, I’d let you come for a cuddle too, Chaos,” Dan joked.

“My Alpha,” Max grumbled in his sleep, nuzzling Dan’s chest and tightening his grip.

“Don’t push your luck, Dan, I doubt mine would be happy about it,” Charles winked. 

“What do you mean ‘mine’?” Sebastian quizzed, raising his eyebrow as he stared at the baby of the family.

“Ah fuck,” Charles whispered, Dan gently laughing and trying to not wake Max.

It was a bit of a difficult situation, and Dan knew that things wouldn’t be as simple as they currently appeared. Kimi was still glaring at him, watching every movement of Dan’s hand over Max’s hair and back, and Charles was quietly arguing that there was nothing dodgy going on with himself and that little beta he was running around with. 

But it was a step forward, and as Max slept in his arms, a content little smile on his face, Dan could deal with it.

As long as Max was smiling, Dan would deal with everything that came with it.

Dealing with Big Brother Valtteri however, he wasn’t entirely sure how he’d deal with that.

Maybe he should just keep Max on his lap.

Probably end with Valtteri still trying to murder him, but as long as Max was nearby he’d be somewhat safe.

Maybe he shouldn’t tell his Mate he was planning on potentially using him as bait to keep Valtteri calm. 

_That_ might end badly. 

However, as long as Max still snuggled him and glared at him playfully, it’d be okay. 

It would be. 

Dan just had to be prepared to prove that he was enough for their Max.

And he could only hope beyond all hell that he was.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hehehehhe
> 
> kudos, comments and feedback always greatly appreciated💙
> 
> Tumblr is at 3303andmore if you wanna come scream about these idiots


End file.
